Under siege at home, Donald Trump ramps up an occupation abroad: Daily Bullshit, August 22-23, 2017

In case you missed it, a total of four new blog posts emanated from the last issue. Head on over to Not Housebroken to catch up.

Also, as sickeningly awful as this president is proving to be, pundits and folks on the Left would do well to remember that he defeated the Democratic Party nominee. And it probably won’t be enough to claim he’s proving much, much worse than anyone anticipated, though that’s probably true.


Updates

  1. August 22, 9:07 pm:
    • Donald Trump’s “new”[1] strategy was subject to “rigorous debate,” according James Mattis.[2] No, seriously. He really did say it. Really! (Afghanistan)
  2. August 23, 3:43 am:
    • Generals conned Donald Trump into yet another surge.[3] And yes, I believe the American Conservative on this one. (Afghanistan)
    • James Fallows piles on with an explanation of how Donald Trump’s speech on Afghanistan is more of the same,[4] which pretty much confirms that Trump was sold a bill of goods—and used ones at that.
  3. August 23, 2:35 pm:
    • Donald Trump is still an ass.[5] (Charlottesville)
    • Investors are trying to figure out what will happen to Uber’s business as it reduces the subsidies it now prices into rides.[6]
  4. The U.S. government has settled a lawsuit filed by three former Guantanamo detainees for Torture. Terms were not disclosed.[7]

Afghanistan

Cynicism aside, yet another “surge”[8]—and I’m sure glad I’m not the only one who fails to see anything new in this policy[9]—should help to bolster support from Donald Trump’s base, mostly authoritarian populists, and might help to distract those #NeverTrump neoconservatives for a while.

James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/

Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “‘Rigorous’ Debate Led To New U.S. Strategy For Afghanistan, Mattis Says,” Global Security, August 21, 2017, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2017/08/mil-170821-rferl02.htm

Dawn, “‘We must reject being made scapegoats for US policy failures,'” August 22, 2017, https://www.dawn.com/news/1353189/we-must-reject-being-made-scapegoats-for-us-policy-failures

Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/


Charlottesville

Fair warning: It takes a strong stomach to read about Donald Trump’s speech in Phoenix.

Jonathan Easley, “Trump unloads in defense of his Charlottesville response at Phoenix rally,” Hill, August 23, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347592-trump-unloads-in-defense-of-his-charlottesville-response-at-phoenix


Uber

Taxis start to look a lot more competitive if you take away the subsidies that Uber (and Lyft) riders are getting.[10] But in my experience, taxis are rarely properly cleaned—you’re actually probably safer on a bus which at least gets hosed out at the end of the day—and even taxi drivers rarely see a livable income.

Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103


Torture

Philip Giraldi, “Two CIA Contractors Successfully Sued for ‘Black Site’ Torture,” American Conservative, August 23, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/two-cia-contractors-successfully-sued-for-black-site-torture/

  1. [1]Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382
  2. [2]Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “‘Rigorous’ Debate Led To New U.S. Strategy For Afghanistan, Mattis Says,” Global Security, August 21, 2017, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2017/08/mil-170821-rferl02.htm
  3. [3]Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/
  4. [4]James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/
  5. [5]Jonathan Easley, “Trump unloads in defense of his Charlottesville response at Phoenix rally,” Hill, August 23, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347592-trump-unloads-in-defense-of-his-charlottesville-response-at-phoenix
  6. [6]Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103
  7. [7]Philip Giraldi, “Two CIA Contractors Successfully Sued for ‘Black Site’ Torture,” American Conservative, August 23, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/two-cia-contractors-successfully-sued-for-black-site-torture/
  8. [8]Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382
  9. [9]Dawn, “‘We must reject being made scapegoats for US policy failures,'” August 22, 2017, https://www.dawn.com/news/1353189/we-must-reject-being-made-scapegoats-for-us-policy-failures; James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/; Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/
  10. [10]Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103

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