tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post706006612364449890..comments2024-03-18T17:20:21.775-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Neocon fanatic Frank Gaffney to replace Mattis after mid-terms, start war against Iranagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-18559160136787725792018-10-31T04:01:44.320-04:002018-10-31T04:01:44.320-04:00The time to worry is always before, not after. &qu...The time to worry is always before, not after. "Bolton has not officially been named as National Security Adviser, so quit worrying about neocons taking over the administration". Well, then he *was* named to that top position.<br /><br />Waiting until the bad thing has already happened is just fatalism, and rationalizing inactivity. You assume you can just "wait and see," and if it turns out a way you don't like, you can just tell Trump, and he'll change his decision to one more pleasing for you.<br /><br />Sorry, not how it works. Once he names Bolton as NSA, that's it. When Gaffney is named Defense Secretary, that's it. Maybe in a year or so they'll be removed, but not because you or anyone else pressured him to. You lobby before the decision is made, not after.<br /><br />But like I said, that's obvious, so when people say "Don't worry until it actually goes wrong," they're conceding that they can't affect anything, that Trump doesn't care how his hardcore fans feel, and so it's pointless to lobby him or anyone near him about hiring Bolton, Gaffney, and the rest.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-23981252054185545312018-10-31T03:54:32.117-04:002018-10-31T03:54:32.117-04:00Trump is not a character in a story, so his traits...Trump is not a character in a story, so his traits do not matter. ("Trump likes this" or "Trump's temper inclines him toward that".)<br /><br />Large-scale governance comes from institutions, factions, coalitions, etc. -- made up of largely interchangeable people who carry out certain roles, or they will get replaced by others who can.<br /><br />That's why our trade deficit is widening far worse than under Obama, we have more troops in Afghanistan and Syria and everywhere else, and why illegal border crossings are worse than any of Obama's years other than the 2014 surge.<br /><br />Trump's temperament, individual views, etc., led him to campaign against all of those things. But now that he's been president for two years, he hasn't accomplished anything on those issues -- in fact, they have all worsened.<br /><br />That's because troop levels, trade policies, and immigration numbers are not like what movie a small group of friends is going to watch on Saturday night. Well, this guy likes comedies, that guy wants some action, they haggle this way, they compromise that way, and in the end, they see Beverly Hills Cop.<br /><br />There are no stakes to what movie a small group of friends goes to see, so there's no real conflict, and no institutions that spring up in order to push for their collective interests on that matter.<br /><br />Once you get to the real issues of the government, it is more about coalitions pursuing a shared goal, regardless of which individuals are enlisted in the battle.<br /><br />That's why Trump hiring Gaffney to replace Mattis is so destructive -- Mattis and Bolton represent somewhat different factions within the imperial foreign policy apparatus, and Mattis has been able to keep the real psychos somewhat in check.<br /><br />It is not Mattis' personality or character traits -- there are others exactly like him, in wanting to check the crazies like Bolton, of whom there are also a large number who would be equally crazy in his place.<br /><br />Putting Gaffney in Mattis' place is not a switch of individual characters, but an unbalancing of the factional forces. Bolton's faction now gains, and the somewhat more realistic faction loses. That threatens to make our imperial military policy all the more insane after the mid-terms.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-78899243218725031472018-10-30T19:35:26.222-04:002018-10-30T19:35:26.222-04:00Can't agree, at least till I see it. Trump was...Can't agree, at least till I see it. Trump was long a critic of all our post-9/11 wars, and likely had some complaints about Clinton's actions in Somalia and Sarajevo. <br /><br />The opportunity with Syria was pushed mightily upon Trump, and he responded by sending a few missiles and then doing nothing more. He lowered the temperature significantly with North Korea, to the point we don't hear any more war talk with them. <br /><br />A long, drawn-out neocon/neoliberal war really doesn't suit his temperament, either. Trump likes quick, decisive actions; he wants the building put up tomorrow, the skating rink frozen the next day, and people moving in the following day. The limited, quick missile strikes in Syria are about right; he's sick of the body bags. <br /><br />R.G. Camarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07042525881873842986noreply@blogger.com