Afghanistan and the USA

So America created a monster in Afghanistan to get the Soviet Union out of there, more than 20 years ago. We supported a force to drive the Soviets out. Nevermind who they really were and the ultimate consequences.

We poured money into the country for 20 years to try, what? Foster democracy? We don't even have it in the USA. How about we get rid of gerrymandering? How about the neutralize growing fascism in the USA. Biden pulls out and he's unempathetic? I don't get that. That's grabbing the firebrand by the wrong end, using our own liberal sensibilities against us. I can deconstruct you too. Everyone is a bundle of contradictions. That doesn't mean we can't act in our own best interests, strive to be integrated.

Afghan has a right to govern itself, without being propped up. Are they choosing some questionable choices, against our American sensibilities? Are people being oppressed and hurt? Have women been marginalized? Is the fundamentalist group running the joint going to do some heinous things? Is that on America? Maybe for creating them in the first place to get the Soviets out. But that was more than 20 years ago. Pulling out? It's never going to be clean.

Meanwhile America is drifting towards a similar fundamentalism on the right. One third of the people prefer more authoritarian rule.

Afghanistan is an adult now. Sucks, right? Not a great childhood, but they are an ancient culture with many resources to draw on. What they do is what they do. Nobody is coming.

Have we created another time bomb? Maybe. We could be dealing with the consequences of US foreign policy since WW2 for the next few million years. Drunk on temporary power and exceptionalism, we thought we could teach the world to be great like us. Turns out our shit stinks too.

At some point the original causes die out, and the karma falls back to the actors. You move out from your parents and the consequences of your actions fall on you.

Has America been a sloppy refugee creating ex-quasi-imperial power? Yes. When you realize that, what can you do? I think the best thing is to retreat, and isolationism.

The problem of climate change is going to absorb all governments. There's no need for aggressive foreign policy. Stupid capitalism is a negative contributing factor in the crisis, and stupid communism seems to be on the wane.

We're going to be swinging left, that's why the right was so desperate it elected Trump. By capitalizing on our worst traits, we proved to not be superior to other countries. We're not the cops of the world any more. Exceptionalism is dead.

Biden is too old to carry us into the next phase. What democrat is going to step forward and be the next FDR of global warming? What do we hate more? Women (AOC)? Gay men (Buttigieg)? Black man (Corey Booker)? Beto O’Rourke? Adam Schiff? Someone has to stand up and fly right. Or we're going to have the Taliban in America.

Manet and Degas

Brilliant video explaining the exhibit. Go to the Met and see the exhibit! It's really quite special. In the last gallery the painting this sketch is based off of, of the execution of a Mexican president. The painting has been cut into sections, and the surviving Degas has reassembled them. NY Times review

The case for Harris

Motley Kamuka Blog endorses Kamala Harris. In general, Trump just wants to lower taxes on the rich, and do nothing, sell whatever influence he can to line his pockets. Apparently the emoluments clause in the constitution has no teeth. Harris has a set of ideas about policy that are fairly middle of the road. In most countries she's would be seen as a centrist. Spin about her radical agendas are exaggerated. I'm not sure how he got past " grab them by the pussy ", but he did and here we are. Women: Obviously the idea of giving women pregnancy tests at the borders of the state, and then if they come back and don't have a baby, they go to jail, isn't really what most women want. Pick Harris. I understand if you think abortion is murder, maybe you've been told that by the Catholic church, which has the same ideal of Buddhism that you don't kill--so follow your religion for yourself. Not everyone is Christian or Buddhist or even has a religion. Women are ...

AOC

Dark Brandon meet Dark Alex. I see her advising the republicans to stick to their guns and never compromise. They don’t want to do anything, only obstruct. So they don’t actually need to be unified. Chaos isn’t organized. This is fine. Read all about it from Heather Cox Richardson , a historian who covers current events. "As their policies threatened to lose voters by concentrating wealth upward and hollowing out the middle class, Republicans increasingly warned that minority voters wanted socialism and were destroying the nation to get it. Trump rode that narrative to power, and now tearing down the current government is the idea that drives the Republican base." While we're at it, here's another funny photo from the Onion: And then: I listened to the Times podcast about George Santos . He basically lied about, I don't know, 80% of his resume, and has a mysterious $700k in his "corporation" which has no clients. So he's a Russian or Chinese plant, o...

Motley Kamuka

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