Powerful New Music From the Killers: "Quiet Town"

Powerful New Music From the Killers: “Quiet Town”

MusicAugust 2021 • Views: 17,484

New Album Pressure Machine Out Now:
thekillers.lnk.to

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Twitter: @thekillers
Website: thekillersmusic.com

Lyrics:
A couple of kids got hit by a Union Pacific train
Carrying sheet metal and household appliances
Through the pouring rain
They were planning on getting married
After graduation
Had a little baby girl
Trouble came and shut it down
Things like that ain’t supposed to happen
In this quiet town
Families are tight
Good people
They still don’t deadbolt their doors at night
In this quiet town
When we first heard opioid stories
They were always in whispering tones
Now banners of sorrow
Mark the front steps of childhood homes
Parents wept through daddy’s girl eulogies
And merit badge milestones
With their daughters and sons
Laying there lifeless in their suits and gowns
Somebody’s been keepin’ secrets

In this quiet town
They know how to live
Good people who lean on Jesus
They’re quick to forgive
In this quiet town
Now whenever I’m near the town
I’ll find some reason to give
And I will walk with the dead and the living
Where I used to live
And every time I see my parents
In the prime of their lives
Offering their son
The kind of love he could never put down
Well part of me is still that stainless kid
Lucky
In this quiet town
Salt of the land
Hard-working people
If you’re in trouble
They’ll lend you a hand
Here in this quiet town
The first crop of hay is up
School let out
And the sun beats down
Smoke billows from a Sunday train
That cries away from a quiet town

Music video by The Killers performing Quiet Town. © 2021 The Killers, under exclusive license to Island Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

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409 comments

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:14:04am

tfw you stumble across somebody on this hellsite who you’ve never met but hates you intensely and blames you for the Iraq War.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 10:16:25am

Again, Can someone tell me what Verification App I can use on my I Phone? I cant get signed in. Thx

Thanos Aug 15, 2021 • 10:18:33am

Still feeling just like I did three days ago, say what you will but I can not blame Joe, only thank him. https://t.co/oSBSwXCOoJ

— Tarkloon (@Tarkloon) August 15, 2021

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:20:13am

Andrea Mitchell saying this am (Sun) that Taliban leaders were working with RU, China, Iran, others all along (when TFG was prez, he knew), making plans with them for the takeover of Afghanistan, being recognized as the legit gov’t. That explains the fast takeover.

— Clair cognizant 🇺🇸 🌊 (@CarolynGarman5) August 15, 2021

Jay C Aug 15, 2021 • 10:20:41am

re: #2 Dave In Austin

Again, Can someone tell me what Verification App I can use on my I Phone? I cant get signed in. Thx

What’s your iOS? Did it update recently?
Sometimes sign-in data gets lost on updates.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:21:06am

re: #2 Dave In Austin

Here’s a good article that explains the concepts involved and recommends several authenticator apps you can try.

pcmag.com

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 10:23:02am

re: #5 Jay C

14.7.1 latest. Just started acting up again this morning.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:24:08am

I just got pissed off again by reading the Wikipedia entry for Little Green Footballs. It’s incredibly exaggerated and negative, and contains several claims that are simply false. But the last time I tried to get it corrected I ran into editors who were very clearly holding a serious grudge against me for some reason. This is really frustrating.

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 10:24:55am

re: #5 Jay C

I’m in

DodgerFan1988 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:25:35am

All I can say is that I hope the people who are using the plight of Afghan citizens to score political points will have the same level of enthusiasm for humanitarianism when those same Afghan citizens are refugees.

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) August 15, 2021

Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light)) Aug 15, 2021 • 10:27:04am

re: #8 Charles Johnson

Is there still a stalker site?

Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light)) Aug 15, 2021 • 10:27:46am

re: #10 DodgerFan1988

All I can say is that I hope the people who are using the plight of Afghan citizens to score political points will have the same level of enthusiasm for humanitarianism when those same Afghan citizens are refugees.

You are joking, right?

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:29:31am

Radio off. Twitter & Facebook I’m ignoring. Pre$$titutes in full attack Joe mode.

Fuck ‘em all!

Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light)) Aug 15, 2021 • 10:30:24am

re: #13 JOE 🥓

Radio off. Twitter & Facebook I’m ignoring. Pre$$titutes in full attack Joe mode.

Fuck ‘em all!

They cannot pass up a chance like this to skewer him for “cutting and running”.

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:34:35am

re: #14 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

They cannot pass up a chance like this to skewer him for “cutting and running”.

The thing they didn’t do to Ronald Reagan when I was floating off the coast of Lebanon after the Americans, British, and French were hit by truck bombs.

We were on workups in the Caribbean Sea and ordered all the way to Lebanon to support the evacuation.

Jay C Aug 15, 2021 • 10:35:20am

re: #9 Dave In Austin

I’m in

Cool.
Hi, Dave!

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:35:23am

Apparently the media believes we need to hear about Afghanistan from Republicans who lie as easily as they breathe, support violent insurrectionists, and are still spreading the big lie that Trump won the election. They’re so broken.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:35:47am

re: #11 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

Don’t know and don’t really care.

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 10:35:55am

Formatting ebooks is a pain in the ass. That is all.

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 10:37:42am

re: #8 Charles Johnson

” After eight years of being a leading right wing blog, LGF started condemning racism and the far-right (especially the Belgian party Vlaams Belang). After that, the site abruptly switched sides and now “LGF has become better known for the various fights it picks with many on the right.”[who?] During the transition period, Johnson deleted many of his more extreme past entries on the site, deleted entire comment sections, and banned many of the former right wing commentators from the site.”

Yeah, this seems to be just a little inaccurate.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:42:10am

re: #20 Eclectic Cyborg

” After eight years of being a leading right wing blog, LGF started condemning racism and the far-right (especially the Belgian party Vlaams Belang). After that, the site abruptly switched sides and now “LGF has become better known for the various fights it picks with many on the right.”[who?] During the transition period, Johnson deleted many of his more extreme past entries on the site, deleted entire comment sections, and banned many of the former right wing commentators from the site.”

Yeah, this seems to be just a little inaccurate.

It’s fucking ridiculous. First, I have deleted VERY FEW posts in LGF’s history. The claim that I deleted many posts is a complete falsehood. So is the claim that I deleted “entire comments sections.”

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:45:42am

re: #21 Charles Johnson

It’s fucking ridiculous. First, I have deleted VERY FEW posts in LGF’s history. The claim that I deleted many posts is a complete falsehood. So is the claim that I deleted “entire comments sections.”

Plus “many” is a weasel word (how many? what percentage of all posts? Is it comparable to other sites which also delete posts which are a detriment to the site, or are these deletions significantly more or less than other sites?)

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 10:45:59am

re: #21 Charles Johnson

When I tell people how much I love it here I almost always get shit for it. I just tell them to come here and read something or send them a link. It usually shuts them up. I for one am SO glad this place is here and I got accepted as a member. Thank you for keeping this place running and dealing with assorted jackasses so we don’t have to.

Citizen K Aug 15, 2021 • 10:48:52am

re: #17 Charles Johnson

Apparently the media believes we need to hear about Afghanistan from Republicans who lie as easily as they breathe, support violent insurrectionists, and are still spreading the big lie that Trump won the election. They’re so broken.

And it’s not just that they believe we need to hear about it from them. It’s that we should ONLY hear about it from them, to exclusion, in the same way they privilege ONLY their opinion on just about everything else.

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 10:49:19am

Neighborhood kids all headed to the jetty to go fishing…here are two of them with their poles on a single bike - three more bikes ahead. It’s like the set of an 80s buddy movie.

Jay C Aug 15, 2021 • 10:50:48am

re: #23 A Mom Anon

When I tell people how much I love it here I almost always get shit for it. I just tell them to come here and read something or send them a link. It usually shuts them up. I for one am SO glad this place is here and I got accepted as a member. Thank you for keeping this place running and dealing with assorted jackasses so we don’t have to.

Amen to this.
x100

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:50:54am

I’m going to roll off to bed. I’ll catch y’all later.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 10:51:04am

re: #22 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

Plus “many” is a weasel word (how many? what percentage of all posts? Is it comparable to other sites which also delete posts which are a detriment to the site, or are these deletions significantly more or less than other sites?)

I can’t find a single other Wikipedia post about a blog where they even mention deleted posts, despite the fact that many right wing blogs have engaged in the kind of wholesale deletions I NEVER did here. This is such bullshit.

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:52:43am

A NATO official has said that all commercial flights have been suspended from the airport in Kabul and only military aircraft are currently allowed to operate, according to the Reuters news agency.

Foreign governments have been flying their embassy staff out and trying to plan to get all their nationals in Afghanistan out of the country as soon as possible.

British prime minister Boris Johnson said in a television interview just a few moments ago that the UK was in the process of bringing Britons home.

“We have the means to get them out,” he said.

The American ambassador to Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, has reportedly now left the country. He was understood to have been transported to the airport in Kabul from the embassy in the last hour.

theguardian.com

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 10:52:45am

Reporters sprinting to quote Republicans who lied and continue to lie about the election and who are now saying Biden is bad because of Afghanistan are telling you they don’t think that telling the biggest lie in modern history should have any impact on a person’s credibility

— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) August 15, 2021

Dread Pirate Ron Aug 15, 2021 • 10:53:13am

re: #25 darthstar

Neighborhood kids all headed to the jetty to go fishing…here are two of them with their poles on a single bike - three more bikes ahead. It’s like the set of an 80s buddy movie.

[Embedded content]

Acoustic Bikes!

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 10:54:12am

From Bush’s address to the nation when we initiated military action in Afghanistan:
” To all the men and women in our military — every sailor, every soldier, every airman, every coastguardsman, every Marine — I say this: Your mission is defined; your objectives are clear; your goal is just.”
I think a bit of mission creep may have occurred over the last 20 years. Here is a link to his full address: georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 10:55:56am

re: #32 No Malarkey!

” To all the men and women in our military — every sailor, every soldier, every airman, every coastguardsman, every Marine — I say this: Your mission is defined; your objectives are clear; your goal is just.”

And even at the time, none of that was true.

Dopamine Fish Aug 15, 2021 • 10:56:47am

re: #23 A Mom Anon

When I tell people how much I love it here I almost always get shit for it. I just tell them to come here and read something or send them a link. It usually shuts them up. I for one am SO glad this place is here and I got accepted as a member. Thank you for keeping this place running and dealing with assorted jackasses so we don’t have to.

Mrs. Fish appreciates that I have this place. Lord only knows how far off the crazy deep end I’d be if I hadn’t been here.

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 11:05:08am

re: #31 Dread Pirate Ron

Acoustic Bikes!

Yeah, the kids around here don’t go for that electric shit…all the adults do, and now the missus is talking e-bikes for us maybe for Xmas. I said we should rent them a few times first and decide if we’ll use them. We’ve got acoustic road bikes already…don’t use those much.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:08:22am

Apparently the media believes we need to hear about Afghanistan from Republicans who lie as easily as they breathe, support violent insurrectionists, and are still spreading the big lie that Trump won the election. They’re so broken.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:08:42am

In 2019 the Washington Post published confidential documents proving that US officials misled the public about the war in Afghanistan. They’ve known for years the war was unwinnable, but lied about it. https://t.co/NvjibiXoQa pic.twitter.com/VLvkiLREny

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 11:08:45am

Dang! Missed World Lizard Day yesterday!

His frill is a bluff to look big and ferocious. But if that doesn’t work, he’s off ✌️

Happy #WorldLizardDay! 🦎 pic.twitter.com/mzCobodteY

— National Geographic (@NatGeo) August 14, 2021

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 11:10:39am

YOU’RE on vacation, a-hole. https://t.co/cABAA3EiDx

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) August 15, 2021

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:13:30am

re: #37 Charles Johnson

Boy when did that happen before?

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:14:57am

Good article about Afghanistan, from a soldier who was there. It was always going to end like this, unless we stayed forever.

Wow, this seems to be really resonating with folks. I’m kind of blown away

I made this post into an article, if that’s a thing that people want:https://t.co/PJsvy2EOmf

— Laura Jedeed (@LauraJedeed) August 15, 2021

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 11:15:15am

re: #39 Backwoods_Sleuth

Ahh I see Jim Shorts does not want to read a little history. Afghanistan has been in an extended state of chaos for many years and will continue to be so unless its people decide to bury the hatchet in the ground and not in each other’s backs.

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 11:21:12am

The Biden presidency is effectively over https://t.co/wd8UXvpKFs

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) August 15, 2021

Yeah, remember how Nixon lost reelection?

— Blue in Red Texas (@RockwallBlue) August 15, 2021

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:24:07am

re: #43 Belafon

Republicans are absolutely cackling with glee that the shitshow that Trump set into motion has come to fruition, so that they can express fake outrage at Biden. They are ghouls.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:25:40am

On the call with @SecBlinken and @SecDef this morning I confirmed that had Biden decided to abandon the agreement negotiated by President Trump, the U.S. would have had to surge thousands of additional troops into Afghanistan. The 2,500 that Trump had left were not nearly enough.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 15, 2021

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:28:46am

re: #32 No Malarkey!

From Bush’s address to the nation when we initiated military action in Afghanistan:
” To all the men and women in our military — every sailor, every soldier, every airman, every coastguardsman, every Marine — I say this: Your mission is defined; your objectives are clear; your goal is just.”
I think a bit of mission creep may have occurred over the last 20 years. Here is a link to his full address: georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov

Every word of that was a goddamned fucking lie.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:32:02am

Republicans are just creaming themselves over this opportunity to attack Joe Biden, while completely omitting the fact that this withdrawal was a deal made by their dear leader Donald Trump. Total fucking hypocrites, every one of them.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:33:24am

When one of the worst people you know makes a good point.

How about: Thank you, President Biden for fulfilling one of Trump’s many broken promises by FINALLY ending the pointless war in Afghanistan.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 15, 2021

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:33:53am

re: #47 Charles Johnson

Understatement. They’re having multiple orgasms because they are dumb enough to believe this will destroy Joe.

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:35:11am

re: #49 JOE 🥓

Understatement. They’re having multiple orgasms because they are dumb enough to believe this will destroy Joe.

In reality, no-one here really cares about Afghanistan.

GlutenFreeJesus Aug 15, 2021 • 11:35:33am

Obama’s biggest blunder was keeping us there after Bin Laden was killed. That moment was our only face-saving way out.

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:38:02am

You can all stop salivating now, Republicans, because the Afghanistan withdrawal isn’t going to destroy the Biden presidency. And clean up that drool, it’s gross.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Yeah Sure WhatEVs Aug 15, 2021 • 11:38:04am

re: #50 No Malarkey!

In reality, no-one here really cares about Afghanistan.

Except those PNAC fuckers. Literally no one other than the Make America A Global Empire By Force crowd.

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:38:20am

re: #51 GlutenFreeJesus

Obama’s biggest blunder was keeping us there after Bin Laden was killed. That moment was our only face-saving way out.

After Dumbya and THE DICK let Osama slip away.

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 11:40:02am

re: #52 Charles Johnson

It’s not drool.

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:40:52am

Note how Bin Laden’s daughter is a hard core MAGAT endlessly kissing Tangface on Twitter!

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 11:41:42am

re: #55 Belafon

It’s not drool.

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 11:42:47am

re: #40 No Malarkey!

Boy when did that happen before?

Flashing back to 2001-03, when the party line on conservative blogs was: “How dare you even suggest Afghanistan is gonna be another Vietnam? Afghanistan is nothing like Vietnam. Vietnam was jungle. Afghanistan isn’t. Checkmate, libt*rds! Oh, also, former President Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and Norman Schwarzkopf kicked the Vietnam Syndrome’s ass once and for all in Kuwait. We’re INVINCIBLE, you self-loathing America-hating, terrorist-supporting wimps. “

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:44:39am

I bet everyone regrets mocking this now that President Trump has been secretly reinstated. https://t.co/HTF1t95Xoz

— Gen JC Christian, Patriot, Expertise Expert (@JC_Christian) August 15, 2021

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 11:46:19am

re: #59 JOE 🥓

What? I think this Q stuff has gone a little too far.

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:47:30am

re: #60 PhillyPretzel

What? I think this Q stuff has gone a little too far.

That’s no nut boy! That’s Captain Nice!

Nojay UK Aug 15, 2021 • 11:48:16am

re: #60 PhillyPretzel

What? I think this Q stuff has gone a little too far.

At least he’s wearing a mask.

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 11:50:46am

“As soon as we leave it’s all going to blown up anyway… the minute we leave, everything blows up. It will go on for many years and the sad part is as soon as it ends, you have those guys sitting back waiting.”

— Donald Trump, on Fox News in 2012, on what would happen when the U.S. leaves Afghanistan

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:51:18am

They knew all along it was unwinnable.https://t.co/dpemFb68rN pic.twitter.com/lYQ2Ihryk0

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 11:56:10am

From Biden yesterday:

When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on U.S. Forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew U.S. Forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our Forces and our allies’ Forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict. I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan—two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.

whitehouse.gov

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 11:56:20am

It would be nice if the media wouldn’t help spread Taliban propaganda for clicks.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 11:56:31am

This ad makes the Conservative Party look remarkably idiotic.#Election2021 https://t.co/XTevukXk5N

— Meanwhile in Canada (@MeanwhileinCana) August 15, 2021

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 11:58:14am

re: #56 JOE 🥓

Note how Bin Laden’s daughter is a hard core MAGAT endlessly kissing Tangface on Twitter!

Well, that’s less about having a father who’s Osama bin Laden and more about being the latest spawn of the family that runs the Bin Laden Group, the single largest builders in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

International oligarch solidarity is the norm not the exception, and people that believe in one form of hierarchy will side with another form of hierarchy over any kind of social leveling. Trump operated in a manner consistent with the patronage-and-favors system that the KSA views as ideal, and came the closest any American president has to openly declaring that any violence to maintain the status quo of America’s allies is on the table, whether that’s bombing Yemenis or ambushing a journalist.

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 11:58:53am

A BELFRY was originally a mobile siege tower. The word has nothing to do with bells, but comes from a Germanic word for a fortified area of high ground—which makes the ‘bel’ in belfry the same as the second half of names like STRASBOURG, PITTSBURGH and EDINBURGH. pic.twitter.com/ZUl36HoOCU

— Haggard Hawks 🦅 (@HaggardHawks) August 15, 2021

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 11:58:55am

They will regret putting Elder in the Governor’s chair when he bans masking and downplays the vaccine. When thousands more die Elder will face impeachment and a recall.

— The 3-D Zanti Regent (@josephebacon) August 15, 2021

Yeah Sure WhatEVs Aug 15, 2021 • 11:59:25am

re: #67 Backwoods_Sleuth

Everyone on both sides of the aisle lambasted the conservatives for that. “I’m a conservative. How do I justify this to my children?” one guy said.

No Malarkey! Aug 15, 2021 • 11:59:32am

re: #67 Backwoods_Sleuth

And here I thought politicians wanted to lose elections.

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:01:23pm

re: #50 No Malarkey!

In reality, no-one here really cares about Afghanistan.

This cannot be emphasized enough

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 12:01:39pm

So, what happens next is that the right wing does the same thing it did with Vietnam: blame the loss of the war on a loose bundle of acceptable targets that “wouldn’t let the soldiers win.”

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 12:06:07pm

Karma…

Anti-Vax Catholic Cardinal On Ventilator For Something - https://t.co/idyeWuzgfR pic.twitter.com/Z0QA601nxl

— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) August 15, 2021

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 12:06:39pm

This morning, the President and Vice President met with their national security team and senior officials to hear updates on the draw down of our civilian personnel in Afghanistan, evacuations of SIV applicants and other Afghan allies, and the ongoing security situation in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/U7IpK3Hyj8

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2021

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 12:07:07pm

No one is surprised that Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban or even that it happened relatively quickly. They are only surprised that it happened as fast as it did, in days rather than months. Intel estimates were off…but not by that much.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 15, 2021

To be honest, David, I have a strong suspicion that nothing happening now is actually surprising to US officials.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 12:08:30pm

Amb. Douglas Lute explains that the US could give the Afghanistan military everything, except the will to fight. Lute said, “I think it is that moral part of the equation that we have seen break down very rapidly in the last several days.” pic.twitter.com/7o2OSel4Gc

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 15, 2021

EstebanTornado1963 Aug 15, 2021 • 12:08:41pm

Lol, vapid tv talking Barbie has deep thoughts pic.twitter.com/2AyzmCNaCU

— EstebanTornado1963 (@ETornado1963) August 15, 2021

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 12:09:24pm

How does something like Kabul happen? It happens when you are no longer a serious country - when you cannot even deal with a pandemic and you think this nitwit waving a flag is a great idea. This is not a public that will engage in reasoned debate about the future of Afghanistan. https://t.co/hsUmYbQrFf

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 15, 2021

I Would Prefer Not To Aug 15, 2021 • 12:09:39pm

re: #70 JOE 🥓

Surprising how many otherwise liberal LA people I talk to who are considering voting to remove
@GavinNewsom
. It seems to be one issue: homelessness.

the word “considering” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. A lot of people were considering not voting for Obama when he defeated Hillary. As I remember Obama won that election AND the next one People consider a lot of shit.

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 12:09:45pm

re: #74 The Ghost of a Flea

So, what happens next is that the right wing does the same thing it did with Vietnam: blame the loss of the war on a loose bundle of acceptable targets that “wouldn’t let the soldiers win.”

“The decadent liberal military was too focused on ‘being woke’ and pursuing ‘social justice’ in its ranks and not killin’ Muslims an’ protectin’ the Afghan womenfolk from their men. Now make me a sammich.”

///

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:10:49pm

re: #70 JOE 🥓

[Embedded content]

All we gotta do is vote to keep him, then “vote” Faulkner.

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 12:11:24pm

re: #79 EstebanTornado1963

Too bad he has three more years to do shit, Monica. Over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

I am really tired of living in a country with such shitty news media. Opinion isn’t fucking news.

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 12:11:46pm

re: #82 A Three Hour Tour

I suspect the answer will be more like “we needed to torture more and just glass entire villages.”

There’s a reason war criminals have been lifted up by the right wing.

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:13:00pm

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:13:14pm

There are no clicks to be had by reporting Gavin Newsom is gonna keep his job, nor showing any polls like that.
projects.fivethirtyeight.com

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 12:13:21pm

Sounds kind of familiar. https://t.co/gwDb6zKt4O

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:14:42pm

re: #70 JOE 🥓

Republicans care about the homeless? WTH?

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 12:15:02pm

re: #88 Charles Johnson

I bet the first shipments of Burqas are already on their way.

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 12:15:24pm

re: #79 EstebanTornado1963

The Biden presidency is effectively over?
This from the “America First!” party?

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 12:15:53pm

re: #88 Charles Johnson

Texas GOP says hi.

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 12:16:24pm

So, who here has read A bright shining lie?

Damed Google, lie, not like.

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:17:03pm

Everybody shut off the ADS-B going to and from Kabul. Closed to commercial traffic but busy with evac. But no tracks.

flightradar24.com

mmmirele Aug 15, 2021 • 12:18:40pm

Y’all, don’t forget that it’s not just Abbott and DeSantis. It’s also Doug Ducey, who has aspirations to the US Senate. Thread.

At this point, I am going to openly hypothesize that the unstated strategy of @azdhs and of Arizona governor @dougducey is herd immunity via uncontrolled infection. I did not consent to be a participant in this experiment. This strategy will directly result in thousands more dead https://t.co/jghX59tc7T

— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD 🏴‍☠️ (@TheAngryEpi) August 15, 2021

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:20:30pm

re: #88 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

They got it all from the republicans website right?

Sounds kind of familiar. https://t.co/gwDb6zKt4O

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 12:21:16pm

re: #85 The Ghost of a Flea

I suspect the answer will be more like “we needed to torture more and just glass entire villages.”

Their answer would be that, if we were serious, we need to nuke Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and give Pam Geller and Robert Spencer never-ending orgasms.

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 12:21:48pm

re: #89 Patricia Kayden

Republicans care about the homeless? WTH?

They do not want to SEE the homeless

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 12:23:02pm

re: #95 mmmirele

Y’all, don’t forget that it’s not just Abbott and DeSantis. It’s also Doug Ducey, who has aspirations to the US Senate. Thread.

Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee are fucked up right now too.

100

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 12:24:37pm

https://t.co/eNzqHs2Lfl

— William K. Wolfrum (@Wolfrum) August 15, 2021

101

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 12:24:42pm

Guy who spent YEARS blithely ignoring the sexual abuse of students who were his responsibility and who is STILL making excuses for his repeated failures would like to talk to you about being on vacation. https://t.co/w9Agsq92jV

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) August 15, 2021

102

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 12:26:09pm

re: #86 Patricia Kayden

[Embedded content]

Seems like an interesting episode of the Amazing World of Gumball.

103

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 12:27:00pm

re: #97 A Three Hour Tour

Honestly…both of those people strike me as the types who would just demand more death because they’re miserable and incapable of feeling gratification.

104

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:27:02pm

Broken clock is right.

How about: Thank you, President Biden for fulfilling one of Trump’s many broken promises by FINALLY ending the pointless war in Afghanistan.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 15, 2021

105

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:28:42pm

re: #95 mmmirele

Y’all, don’t forget that it’s not just Abbott and DeSantis. It’s also Doug Ducey, who has aspirations to the US Senate. Thread.

[Embedded content]

Re herd immunity from here

What’s going on with COVID and the Delta variant.
Due to Delta’s infectious nature, even those of us who are vaccinated can/will get it.
in most cases mild/no symptoms.
And so we will spread it

So the U.S. can never achieve herd immunity, thanks to the anti-vax

106

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:29:20pm

re: #67 Backwoods_Sleuth

What’s wrong with wanting a majority?

107

Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light)) Aug 15, 2021 • 12:30:17pm

re: #105 Dangerman

Re herd immunity from here

What’s going on with COVID and the Delta variant.
Due to Delta’s infectious nature, even those of us who are vaccinated can/will get it.
in most cases mild/no symptoms.
And so we will spread it

So the U.S. can never achieve herd immunity, thanks to the anti-vax

So we are now chasing our tails until the next variant comes along that is immune to our vaccines…

108

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:31:21pm

re: #100 jaunte

[Embedded content]

With zero of them offering any alternative or suggestion

Republican lawmakers are denouncing President Biden’s admin. for the Taliban’s aggressive takeover of Afghanistan. https://t.co/fSY78v2poG

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 15, 2021

109

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:32:40pm

re: #106 Patricia Kayden

What’s wrong with wanting a majority?

Its not fair to the rest //

110

FFL (GOP Delenda Est) Aug 15, 2021 • 12:35:31pm

re: #108 Dangerman

With zero of them offering any alternative or suggestion

And I’m sure failing to state, much less admit, that it is Biden in part fulfilling Trump’s deal to withdraw this year.

111

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:39:33pm

re: #108 Dangerman

Why did Trump promise to get us out? Why did Obama promise to get us out?
Because we could see we could not really help and it was time to go. The question here is not why Joe Biden actually is getting us out now but why did it wait till his admin anyway?

112

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:41:04pm

Did you say that to Trump admin when it announced the plan?

— John Panzer (@jpanzer) August 15, 2021

113

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:42:12pm

re: #111 Rightwingconspirator

Why did Trump promise to get us out? Why did Obama promise to get us out?
Because we could see we could not really help and it was time to go. The question here is not why Joe Biden actually is getting us out now but why did it wait till his admin anyway?

same reason deficits* are dems fault

Eta: *generated during republican admins

114

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 12:47:28pm

re: #108 Dangerman

I think we should slam their offices with calls and emails asking them what their fucking genius plan is then. Stay there forever and keep dumping money into DoD and contractors?

I’d also love to know how much of those trillions of dollars really went to the “war effort” and how much ended up being hidden by guys like Erik Prince. There’s a lot more of these guys we didn’t hear about. Where is that money?

115

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:48:03pm

FFS! Afghanistan was always going to be an even worse mess when we left. A ton of voices objecting today were all in favor of getting out for years. Maybe since Obama said we would get out. If even Trump could see this (and he did) what is with the sudden objection now? pic.twitter.com/ILaXTCG3Z2

— Manksy (@TheManksy) August 15, 2021

116

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:48:07pm

The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan’s military that allowed Taliban fighters to reach the gates of Kabul on Sunday despite twenty years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series of deals brokered in rural villages between the militant group and some of the Afghan government’s lowest-ranking officials,” the Washington Post reports.

“The deals, initially offered early last year, were often described by Afghan officials as cease-fires, but Taliban leaders were in fact offering money in exchange for government forces to hand over their weapons.”

“Over the next year and a half, the meetings advanced to the district level and then rapidly on to provincial capitals, culminating in a breathtaking series of negotiated surrenders by government forces.”

117

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 12:48:07pm

After ganging up on reporters, Proud Boy Adam Kiefer calls out an antifascist for a “one on one”, and then gets knocked out with a single punch. 📸 @waterspider__pic.twitter.com/JAZNirVF0o

— Chad Loder (@chadloder) August 14, 2021

118

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:48:16pm

Heh

Not a hypothetical. He was president during the last covid surge. And the reaction to his failure of leadership was expected.

— Barry (@b_gillicuddy) August 15, 2021

119

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:50:03pm

re: #118 Patricia Kayden

Heh

[Embedded content]

Maybe he doesn’t remember. // 1/2

120

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 12:51:24pm

re: #108 Dangerman

With zero of them offering any alternative or suggestion

I’m afraid I’m missing the part where the American people elected Joe Biden to be president of Afghanistan.

121

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 12:52:25pm

I’ve never seen Pentagon leaders ever testify to Congress that “it’s not working, we should cut our losses.” It’s always that we need more time and material. Just six more months. It never comes. There’s a reason we have civilian not military leadership: To end this.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) August 15, 2021

122

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 12:53:35pm

re: #116 Dangerman

Trump admin did that. And even Biden could not unscrew that pooch.

123

Jay C Aug 15, 2021 • 12:54:28pm

re: #43 Belafon

A tad late, but that last comment is off a bit (the first one is just plain looney-toonz) - when Saigon finally fell (April 1975), Gerald Ford was President, not Nixon (what had resigned in August ‘74).
And as I recall things, Vietnam was pretty much a dead issue in this country at that time, and it wasn’t that much of an factor in the ‘76 elections a year-and-a-half later.

124

Teukka Aug 15, 2021 • 12:54:35pm

re: #96 Dangerman

They got it all from the republicans website right?

The thing is, check out where Edward Jenner’s (the father of vaccination) idea for inoculation against smallpox originally came from…https://t.co/uEDmKAAE2S

— 🤬🌡↔️🧼😷 Teo 😷🧼↔️🌡🤬 (@Teukka72) August 15, 2021

125

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 12:56:10pm

re: #121 jaunte

The Pentagon needs forever wars to justify its outrageously large budget. Democrats and Republicans give the military more $$$ than it can ever spend so it’s all good.

126

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 12:56:32pm

His own. https://t.co/R60FGYY80z

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

127

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 12:57:22pm

An American Kingdom
A new and rapidly growing Christian movement is openly political, wants a nation under God’s authority, and is central to Donald Trump’s GOP
washingtonpost.com

Worth reading, if you can get past the paywall. I am boggled at the detailed description of the “church service.” Amazing people just don’t say, OMG, and leave.

128

Dangerman Aug 15, 2021 • 12:58:18pm

re: #119 Dangerman

Maybe he doesn’t remember. // 1/2

And rereading his comment maybe he doesn’t rmemrber he was president at all

Let alone the covid surge on his watch

“Could you imagine if I were president”
Yup
Maybe he doesn’t remember any of it

129

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 1:00:51pm

re: #127 retired cynic

Time for them to lose the tax exempt status.

130

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 1:06:40pm

re: #127 retired cynic

An American Kingdom
A new and rapidly growing Christian movement is openly political, wants a nation under God’s authority, and is central to Donald Trump’s GOP
washingtonpost.com

Worth reading, if you can get past the paywall. I am boggled at the detailed description of the “church service.” Amazing people just don’t say, OMG, and leave.

Yeah, it’s all flash and bullshit…

On the stage one recent Sunday, the band was doing its usual run-through — two guitar players, a bass player, a keyboardist and two singers, one of whom was saying through her mic to the earpiece of the drummer: “When we start, I want you to wait to build it — then I want you to do those drum rolls as we’re building it.” He nodded, and as they went over song transitions, the rest of the worship team filtered in for the pre-service prayer.

The sound technician prayed over the board controlling stacks of D&B Audiotechnik professional speakers. The lighting technician asked the Lord to guide the 24 professional-grade spotlights with colors named “good green” and “good red.” Pacing up and down the aisles were the ushers, the parking attendants, the security guards, the greeters, the camera operators, the dancers, the intercessors, all of them praying, whispering, speaking in tongues, inviting into the room what they believed to be the Holy Spirit — not in any metaphorical sense, and not in some vague sense of oneness with an incomprehensible universe. Theirs was the spirit of a knowable Christian God, a tangible force they believed could be drawn in through the brown roof, through the cement walls, along the gray-carpeted hallways and in through the double doors of the sanctuary where they could literally breathe it into their bodies. Some people spoke of tasting it. Others said they felt it — a sensation of warm hands pressing, or of knowing that someone has entered the room even when your eyes are closed. Others claimed to see it — golden auras or gold dust or feathers of angels drifting down.

131

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Aug 15, 2021 • 1:10:15pm

re: #127 retired cynic

Side note about the Washington Post paywall: if you happen to have a .gov or .mil email address they will give you a digital subscription free of charge. If you have a .edu you get something like a 90% discount.

WaPo and NYT are the only news sources I’m an official subscriber to, and it’s all I can do not to cancel the NYT. I keep talking myself into and out of it.

132

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 1:19:06pm

re: #8 Charles Johnson

If there are false claims, and you have reliable sources/citations that probe they’re false I will make an effort.

133

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:19:11pm

when it’s cold you can see the melody pic.twitter.com/DEErDO1B0a

— Rob N Roll (@thegallowboob) August 15, 2021

134

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 1:21:48pm

He’s gonna declare an emergency and then ban mops. https://t.co/eAYrRuI2Zc

— Blue Heron Farm (@BlueHeronFarmTX) August 15, 2021

135

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 1:25:42pm

re: #134 jaunte

Next come the anti-waxers.

136

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:27:42pm

Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar was released from a Pakastani prison in 2018 after President Trump made the request as a part of peace talks.

Baradar is now set to become the President of Afghanistan following the collapse of the Afghan government.https://t.co/T0IjtA2WTU

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 15, 2021

137

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 1:29:33pm

Gregory Gym, UT Austin:

Pool party at Greg’s 🏊‍♂️😱 pic.twitter.com/kD2otKfD4z

— Jonathan Sherchand (@JSherchand) August 15, 2021

138

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Aug 15, 2021 • 1:30:14pm

re: #132 John Hughes

If there are false claims, and you have reliable sources/citations that probe they’re false I will make an effort.

This is somewhat backwards. The burden of proof is always on the person making the claim. If I claim you are a murderer, it’s up to me to provide evidence to back up my claim. You are not required to prove that you are not a murderer.

139

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 1:30:37pm

When anti-vaccine people and reactionaries invoke “herd immunity” they don’t actually mean herd immunity in the dictionary sense, and thus don’t care that it doesn’t work they way it claims. What they’re doing is using a science-sounding cover term for their only, and entirely anti-social, base premise:

if there is a problem, then let people we deem to have no value suffer and/or die until there isn’t a problem any more

This is their panacea…but it’s also what undergirds the general belief in individualism and meritocracy as comingled properties of what is good. People are not valuable the same way, and therefore what kind of effort is placed into helping people has to be scrutinized in kind of accountancy—you are worth this much help on the basis of how much value you can generate. This is frequently literal: your moral worth, your financial worth, and your social worth are viewed as existing in feedback with one another. The people that suffer and/or die have to because the correct operation of the world is that all suffering is a test and those that fail that test are lesser people, those that need help are lesser people, and those that observe that the test is unfair are a dangerous-but-naive lesser kind of person.

It’s a caste system wearing the tanned skin of utilitarianism.

And like caste…the scales are intentionally unbalanced. The people making the moral determinations benefit materially from a system that punches down hard on the lower tiers and the outliers.What is necessary for the greatest good always bends to convenience those who already have power. Morality comes after their cut, leading to their second unstated, fundamentally antisocial, thesis:

it is more immoral to disrupt the established social hierarchy through uplifting the low-status than it is to let people die

There are a bunch of social issues both in this country and worldwide—climate change, refugees from internal conflicts, homelessness, this pandemic—where inaction is justified by a kind of “realism” in which the suffering do not matter enough to disrupt the aspects of the system that benefit the (relatively) suffering-free. Those that suffer and die are creating an inconvenience by suffering, and that makes them unreasonable, and thus the not-suffering can position themselves as put upon. And once all compassionate constructive actions are walled off as impossible—too expensive because the people suffering are not valuable enough and the people not suffering axiomatically are entitled to all their cut—and unreasonable—you can’t ask people to feel uncomfortable, you can’t be rude by accurately describing your pain—what remains is the default in which people will die preventable deaths.

Which is why we are where we are in this pandemic: the believers in this unjust system are authentically angry at the concept that they would have to be inconvenienced to protect the lives of people they view as inferiors. Anything, even risking death, is better than conceding a common bond with people they view as lesser and other.

140

sagehen Aug 15, 2021 • 1:33:33pm

re: #131 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

WaPo and NYT are the only news sources I’m an official subscriber to, and it’s all I can do not to cancel the NYT. I keep talking myself into and out of it.

I gave up on NYT, still subscribe to WaPo.

I’m seriously considering subscribing to Vanity Fair, Esquire and the Atlantic. I’ve been buying single issues at newsstands, but noticing how much extra daily stuff they do, by their best writers, that never makes the print edition.

141

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:35:24pm

COVID to DELTA 🤦‍♀️ https://t.co/6puhqhaojX

— Holly (@Simply_me_Holly) August 15, 2021

142

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:39:00pm

How far have the Taliban actually advanced? Are they in Kent? pic.twitter.com/Ma9zP4jM0M

— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) August 15, 2021

So true. I’ve often seen men wandering aimlessly around shopping centres frustrated that nobody wants doors held open for them

— Richard Gunter (@Rich_gunter) August 15, 2021

143

sagehen Aug 15, 2021 • 1:40:19pm

re: #136 Backwoods_Sleuth

Mullah Baradar was released from Pakistani prison less than 90 days after those unrecorded and untranscribed meetings between Trump and Putin at Helsinki.

Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

144

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:42:39pm

This is a picture of my son being completely gobsmacked by sea life at our local aquarium.

I wanted to share this because I am SO ABSOLUTELY SICK of seeing grown ass adults punching each other in the streets on my Twitter feed.

Grow up. Look at the fish. pic.twitter.com/nKLtwWKUBr

— Mitch Gerads (@MitchGerads) August 15, 2021

145

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:43:46pm

You know what works even better than 70%?

VACCINES! https://t.co/USSFk7GmPU

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) August 15, 2021

So? https://t.co/D50QEZX6Eg

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) August 15, 2021

^^what Jim said^^

146

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:44:21pm

re: #145 Backwoods_Sleuth

^^what Jim said^^

Wait until you hear about literally any other medication. Did you ever wonder why most drug comercials are half disclaimer

— Angela needs a hand, see pinned tweet (@redhedrdemption) August 15, 2021

147

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 1:44:30pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

deleted VERY FEW posts in LGF’s history.

quantitative?

148

HRH Stanley Sea Aug 15, 2021 • 1:44:52pm

re: #140 sagehen

I gave up on NYT, still subscribe to WaPo.

I’m seriously considering subscribing to Vanity Fair, Esquire and the Atlantic. I’ve been buying single issues at newsstands, but noticing how much extra daily stuff they do, by their best writers, that never makes the print edition.

Been a vanity fair sub for, er 30 years? It’s not the same, but still good. With sub you can read the archives which is really really gold.

Atlantic for the last year. Bravo, worth it.

The New Yorker is on my to spend list.

Wapo for a couple. TPM.

Haven’t subscribed/unsubscribed to NYT.

149

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:46:00pm

Hamid Karzai international airport. 16 August, 2021. pic.twitter.com/LXsAQPpFXG

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 15, 2021

150

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:48:29pm

Armed Taliban fighters have entered Afghanistan’s presidential palace in Kabul hours after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/B5EwRybCpq pic.twitter.com/oPIGxxKT1V

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 15, 2021

“The government is not solving our problems.”

Kabul residents withdraw money and flee the city as Taliban advances — in pictures https://t.co/kkt8BnC2uG pic.twitter.com/gIaj4qtR3r

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 15, 2021

151

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:48:59pm

Huh, this looks familiar. pic.twitter.com/vwRhd1Ukwx

— Good Human (@goodhuman2007) August 15, 2021

152

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 1:53:07pm

re: #42 PhillyPretzel

Afghanistan has been in an extended state of chaos for many years and will continue to be so unless its people decide to bury the hatchet in the ground and not in each other’s backs.

Ah, yes, it’s all on the Afghan people.
The repeated foreign interventions (Soviet, American, Pakistani, American) have nothing to do with it

153

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 1:54:14pm

If Republicans and the MAGA cult thought they could actually do to the US what the Taliban are doing to Afghanistan, don’t think they wouldn’t.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

154

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 1:54:23pm

Now the Taliban can start harboring more terrorists and start this vicious fucking cycle all over again.

155

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 1:58:15pm

Ask your dad what the nuclear triad is. I bet he still doesn’t know… or care. https://t.co/83BzF3aFra

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) August 15, 2021

156

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 1:58:28pm

re: #48 No Malarkey!

When one of the worst people you know makes a good point.

What makes you think the war in Afghanistan is over?

157

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 1:59:28pm

re: #51 GlutenFreeJesus

Obama’s biggest blunder was keeping us there after Bin Laden was killed. That moment was our only face-saving way out.

Osama was killed in Pakistan.

158

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Aug 15, 2021 • 2:02:01pm

re: #145 Backwoods_Sleuth

Why won’t ONE reporter ask him what a “monoclonal antibodies” treatment COSTS?

whywhywhywhywhywhywhy

159

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:02:02pm

The cardinal, 73, is being assisted by a ventilator at the hospital in Wisconsin, where he was a bishop from 1994 to 2005. “Doctors are encouraged by his progress,” the Aug. 15 tweet stated #COVIDIDIOTS #MOG

— Michael O’Grady (@mog7546) August 15, 2021

It is unclear whether Burke has received the vaccine, but speaking at the May 2020 Rome Life Forum, Burke said that “vaccination itself cannot be imposed, in a totalitarian manner, on citizens.” He also quoted groups that suggested that COVID-19 vaccines inject “a kind of microchip” that allow citizens to “be controlled by the state regarding health and about other matters which we can only imagine.”

The cardinal also said that “it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses,” adding that the state “is not the ultimate provider of health. God is.”

160

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:04:18pm

re: #50 No Malarkey!

In reality, no-one here really cares about Afghanistan.

I care about Afghanistan. More than I care about the USA. You guys have your big boy pants. Your can fuck your lives up on your own (which you appear to be doing,)

Afghanistan has been shat upon by the “international community” for centuries.

So yes I care about Afghanistan.

161

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:06:53pm

re: #147 John Hughes

quantitative?

I can check the database for a count of deleted posts, but it doesn’t tell me why they were deleted, and a lot of them are just for technical reasons - a duplicate post, or a bug in the software, or some other problem. And for the ones from the era in question that were deleted, I had good reasons; it wasn’t to hide anything. The most common reason I’d delete a post was because it contained information I discovered was WRONG, and I wanted to avoid spreading misinformation.

162

Dread Pirate Ron Aug 15, 2021 • 2:07:37pm

The morning will start out relatively clear in the central Sacramento valley, but smoke is expected to fill back in from the north by afternoon. Here’s a look at the smoke forecast for today. pic.twitter.com/xvOBhp56rF

— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) August 15, 2021

163

EstebanTornado1963 Aug 15, 2021 • 2:08:20pm

Hey cokehead, what did your russian asset dad and putin agree to that put Baradar back in charge so fast? If you two even know who that is.

— EstebanTornado1963 (@ETornado1963) August 15, 2021

164

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:08:41pm

re: #64 Charles Johnson

Am I having déjà vu again?

But, seriously, which fucking moron didn’t know this, without some pentagon papers, on day one?

165

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:08:57pm

The real problem was those right wingers who were banned from LGF, who began a campaign (still going on) of harassment and smearing that resulted in this bullshit that’s now been enshrined at Wikipedia.

166

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 2:08:58pm

re: #153 Charles Johnson

I would argue they tried and failed on 1/6.

167

sagehen Aug 15, 2021 • 2:12:45pm

You know who could have prevented this shitshow from playing out this way?

Soleimani

I’m going to hypothesize that action was also a Putin favor.

168

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 2:14:31pm

In news closer to home:

James O’Keefe Does ‘Oklahoma!,’ And Oh Boy, It Is Not Okay (Wonkette)

I don’t know when it happened exactly, but at some point in recent history, James O’Keefe decided he was fabulously talented at more than just making terrible undercover videos meant to “expose” various liberal and left wing organizations and getting permanently banned from Twitter. Specifically, he decided he should sing. And dance. Like, a lot.

He even released an unbelievably cringey music video earlier this year.

This venture is not terribly surprising. There comes a point in the career of pretty much anyone who is famous for stupid reasons wherein they decide that the obvious next step is to come out with a fragrance, release a heavily autotuned single, or play Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago. Thankfully, O’Keefe has not chosen to go with the first option, because I don’t think any of us want to know what he smells like.

However, with the assistance of (allegedly) notoriously abusive director/Florida congressional hopeful Brian Clowdus, he is making the foray into musical theater that no one ever asked for.

(more)

[2:35]

James O’Keefe [@ProjectVeritas] “OLIGARCHY” [Music Video]

169

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:16:06pm

re: #168 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

You can’t make me watch that. Nope.

170

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 2:16:58pm

re: #160 John Hughes

But Americans in general don’t care unless it can be used as a political hammer or what they see on what passes for news here. I mean that in the general sense. Very few of us, myself included, have even a basic understanding of the history of the Middle East, let alone the religious, political and financial particulars that have shaped that part of the world, especially in the last 75 yrs or so. I care about people, war and being run by greedy warlords is a horrid thing to happen. We went in there with very little understanding or even a willingness to. Americans get their information from shitty sources because there isn’t much to choose from. This got a lot worse after 9/11. We shouldn’t have set foot in Afghanistan but the Bush Administration sold it as mandatory or we’d be attacked again. We, the public were scared and pissed off, shitty decisions get made in that state.

We’re good people here, but truly most Americans couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map, let alone give you a coherent understanding of that part of the world. That’s where the lack of concern from the public comes from, lack of information beyond sound bites and stereotypes. I don’t know how to change that.

171

sagehen Aug 15, 2021 • 2:17:00pm

BREAKING: Lindsey Graham called Pres. Biden after the election to apologize for attacking his son, saying he “only attacked Hunter to satisfy Trump supporters.” Biden reportedly blew him off, did NOT accept his apology, and told him to stop being FAKE and playing both sides.

— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) August 14, 2021

172

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 2:17:31pm

re: #168 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

He was almost defeated early by the jacket removal.

173

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:18:28pm

re: #78 Backwoods_Sleuth

Why might the government forces not have the “will to fight”?

Maybe because they saw the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

We don’t like that answer, because the Taliban is all that we despise, but are we so sure that we know what that average Afghan man (sic) wants?

174

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:20:01pm

“legitimate rulers of Afghanistan”
oh dear, where to begin…

175

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:20:27pm

Steve is the kinda guy that comes to your house and tells you your decking isn’t level. pic.twitter.com/JMABmYAdKS

— In Otter News…. (@In_Otter_News2) August 14, 2021

176

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 2:20:55pm

re: #169 Charles Johnson

You can’t make me watch that. Nope.

Not even for an upfist?

177

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:21:51pm

Who wants to bet with me over whether there will be more op eds in British newspapers attacking trans people this week than calling out the Taliban over their treatment of women?

— Katelyn Burns (@transscribe) August 15, 2021

I see someone’s being British on the Internet https://t.co/RiEI1ClXe5

— jesse taylor (@jesseltaylor) August 15, 2021

178

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:23:43pm

Remember this? https://t.co/Axhw2w273N

— David B. Landes. Telling it like it is. (@World_ly) August 15, 2021

179

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 2:24:46pm

There should be no pretending to believe Republicans when they claim to be mad about this, and no credulousness when they try to exploit it like Benghazi in complete bad faith. https://t.co/FTZfV3KvKQ

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) August 15, 2021

180

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:24:53pm

re: #138 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

This is somewhat backwards. The burden of proof is always on the person making the claim. If I claim you are a murderer, it’s up to me to provide evidence to back up my claim. You are not required to prove that you are not a murderer.

Are you taking about some wonderful platonic discourse, or Wikipedia?

181

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 2:27:01pm

I see you’re in contrarian mode again.

re: #160 John Hughes

“Here”, John, is America, not LGF.

re: #157 John Hughes

Osama was killed in Pakistan.

And getting him, dead or alive, was the reason we were in Afghanistan.

182

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:29:48pm

Spider weaving a web.. 👌 pic.twitter.com/13t5wRdgNR

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) August 15, 2021

183

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:31:48pm

re: #181 Belafon

I see you’re in contrarian mode again.

“Here”, John, is America, not LGF.

And getting him, dead or alive, was the reason we were in Afghanistan.

at least Obama got the correct country, unlike W going after bin Laden guns blazing into Iraq.

184

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:31:48pm

re: #161 Charles Johnson

Yeah, I understand, but if the article says “many” and the truth is one in a million…

185

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:33:17pm

“I see people crying, they are not sure whether their flight will happen.” The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport punctuated a rush by thousands of others to flee, as the Taliban reached Afghanistan’s capital. https://t.co/oKk8QtWVFU

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 15, 2021

186

Teukka Aug 15, 2021 • 2:34:52pm

Afghanistans former Secretary of Defence venting on Twitter:

[Sauce]

187

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:35:07pm

re: #165 Charles Johnson

Please, can we be specific. If there is non encyclopaediac content (i.e. not neural point of view, unsupported,…) It can be fixed.

188

(((Archangel1))) Aug 15, 2021 • 2:36:08pm

This is your dad’s handiwork, signed a year ago by the only “president” to speak with & invite the Taliban here while he tarnished the Oval Office and defiled the nation.https://t.co/00O6986hDV

— Arch (Space Laser Vaccination Supervisor) (@Arch_LGF) August 15, 2021

189

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 2:37:33pm

re: #183 Backwoods_Sleuth

at least Obama got the correct country, unlike W going after bin Laden guns blazing into Iraq.

Dubya went into Iraq to finish the job that a decade of media pundit driven second-guessing had concluded that Poppy, Cheney and Powell fumbled in 1991. The attempts to link Saddam to al-Qaeda were the pretext to go back into Iraq to remove an embarrassing thorn in our side.

190

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 2:38:09pm

re: #153 Charles Johnson

That’s what January 6th was all about.

191

DodgerFan1988 Aug 15, 2021 • 2:38:46pm

When it grows up, the GOP wants to be like the Talibans pic.twitter.com/FI1uwXfvzf

— KTYGraphics cartoonist🇺🇸✍🏻 (@CathyGraphics2) August 15, 2021

192

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:39:45pm

re: #170 A Mom Anon

Ok, but:
1. Afghanistan isn’t in the middle east.
2. “We’re good people here”, uh… You said “But Americans in general don’t care”, that doesn’t make you “good people”, that makes you inhuman scum.

193

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 2:39:59pm

re: #139 The Ghost of a Flea

I think somewhere in here you can find the intersection between “wellness” and the denialism, conspiracism, and fascism.

“Wellness” as a marketing niche leans into health-as-test-of-worth, where those that consume the right goods and serves are the good individuals that care for themselves, but there are bad people that don’t do the exact correct consumption and thus create their own health issues and thus deserve their suffering. Frequently this idea of self-care intersects with spirituality—the right kind of piety is a form of health care—
reinforcing that their is a moral order: better health is being a better person. Subsequently, illness itself becomes meritocratic: to get sick is be bad in some way, and to suffer as a product of ill health is thus a deserved outcome, the comeuppance for a moral failing.

This is all horseshit, it makes no sense, but it’s meant to impose individualism and meritocracy onto biological processes that are largely indifferent to human metrics. It discards mathematical chaos—a cloud of unknowing as all the variables of contagion are thrown into the balance with each infection—and sets in place a pyramid shaped hierarchy. What we’re watching with Covid is people conceptualizing the disease as a challenge with moral implications—health karma—judging themselves Moral and Correct because of their particular consumption habits and rituals, and implicitly or explicitly asserting that everyone who gets sick deserves it, and those that die earned their death. They’ve taken something beyond human moral qualia and made it a judgement…but only because their base assumption is that they will be found deserving of life.

As a consequence, their greatest anger is for people that refuse to accept the premise of their preferred hierarchy—that Covid has moral implications, that all disease only attacks those who’ve done the wrong thing—and therefore operate on an egalitarian moral standard in which one tries to do things not just for personal health but for the general welfare. They’re not dying because they’re suicidal, they’re dying because their base assumption is that they are, in one form (athletic, taking supplements) or another (protected by God, embracing quacks and quack remedies) a superior kind of person that will not suffer or die.

It’s the same thought process as the far right—just let people die, it’s immoral for me to care about lesser kinds of people. Their preferred social order demands people destroy themselves, uncomplaining, and suffering and death is always because of the failure of the suffering and the dead. And it’s the same because both accept base assumptions about the nature of value: you exist to prove your worth to them. Which is why both groups are pulling exactly the same kind of contemptuous, cruel shit: demonstrating that they cannot be made to perform even the minimum of mutual care for people they see as inferiors

194

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:41:07pm

re: #174 Backwoods_Sleuth

“legitimate rulers of Afghanistan”
oh dear, where to begin…

So, begin.

195

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 2:42:20pm

re: #168 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

All of these right wing commentator types are failed artists.

And they’re all failed artists because they’re incapable of vulnerability and empathy; they can’t create something with depth that challenges and compels, so they find an audience they can anticipate and thus pander to.

196

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:43:07pm

re: #187 John Hughes

Please, can we be specific. If there is non encyclopaediac content (i.e. not neural point of view, unsupported,…) It can be fixed.

OK, to be specific, keeping in mind that a large percentage of the deleted posts have nothing to do with politics, there are 356 deleted posts in the entire DB, out of 51,179. That’s approximately 0.0069 percent, over the course of about 20 years. It doesn’t seem like “many” is the correct way to describe that.

197

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:45:09pm

And by the way, there are still plenty of posts accessible to the public that I’m not proud of. But I don’t delete posts to hide my history, I never have and never will.

198

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:45:27pm

re: #196 Charles Johnson

Ok that sounds like a useful correction. It’s a little late here, but I’ll try and fix that tomorrow.

199

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:45:32pm

re: #194 John Hughes

So, begin.

200

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 2:45:39pm

re: #174 Backwoods_Sleuth

“legitimate rulers of Afghanistan”
oh dear, where to begin…

Well, they have the right of conquest. Historically that’s where every human government has gotten it’s authority for good or bad. Ours came from the barrel of our guns in 1781 with the final win at Yorktown. Modern British government descends from the English Civil War and so on.

201

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:46:38pm

re: #196 Charles Johnson

OK, to be specific, keeping in mind that a large percentage of the deleted posts have nothing to do with politics, there are 356 deleted posts in the entire DB, out of 51,179. That’s approximately 0.0069 percent, over the course of about 20 years. It doesn’t seem like “many” is the correct way to describe that.

and some of those deleted posts, quite frankly, were deliberately blatant violations of LGF posting rules.

202

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:49:12pm

sometimes trolls just can’t resist pushing boundaries

203

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 2:49:53pm

re: #202 Backwoods_Sleuth

Exactly.

204

John Hughes Aug 15, 2021 • 2:50:12pm

re: #200 William Lewis

I didn’t claim that the Taliban, a pure creation of Pakistan’s ISI, were the legitimate rulers iof Afghanistan.

I claimed that it appeared that most Afghanis with the power to influence that choice seem to think that.

205

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:50:35pm

Some kids are born with it.

Regulators — mount up… pic.twitter.com/7AjQC0f5C8

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) August 15, 2021

206

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:52:15pm

It’s a dangerous game though, because any scrutiny of the collapse in Afghanistan also leads back to disastrous GOP policy choices and hugely contradictory past statements from GOP leaders.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 15, 2021

207

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:53:12pm

snowflakes are sooo fecking predictable

208

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 2:53:42pm

re: #192 John Hughes

I’m not here to fight with you. You’ve already made up your mind. I’m saying most of us can’t make informed opinions about this because we’re fed shitty information. With facts given to us and leaving opinions out of it, we’d probably see a different response from most Americans. And yes, most of us are decent humans, not perfect, but decent. Most of us are struggling to survive and figure out really uncertain futures, let alone understand how things work in different cultures. We also can’t afford world travel to learn either. It’s very hard to care about things that we know little about except what we have been told. And for the purposes of The War in the Middle East, Afghanistan gets lumped in out of media laziness. So if that makes me inhuman scum, I guess I am. It’s a complex and fucked up mess and the vast majority of the American people have no idea what is actually happening there and why.

209

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:53:56pm

re: #201 Backwoods_Sleuth

You may be thinking of comments — I’m sure there are a lot more than 356 deleted comments! I was referring to front page articles only.

But your point is correct - deleted comments are always for cause.

210

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:55:13pm

re: #209 Charles Johnson

You may be thinking of comments — I’m sure there are a lot more than 356 deleted comments! I was referring to front page articles only.

But your point is correct - deleted comments are always for cause.

ah, noted.

211

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 2:56:58pm

The East Bay is home to the largest number of Afghan-Americans in the country.
If you have a loved one waiting for a Special Immigrant Visa, my team and I are here to help. Stop by my office at the times below or call and make an appointment with one of my caseworkers. pic.twitter.com/B8tJFvUj91

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) August 15, 2021

212

Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus Aug 15, 2021 • 2:57:33pm

“Islam controls our lives.” - no. “Islam” is an abstract construct, a creation of humans, like Star Trek only more absurd and less enlightening.

People control people. You want to control women because you have some deep rooted problems with sex.

— freetoken fights fecking fascists (@freetoken) August 15, 2021

213

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:58:00pm

From Wikipedia:

The site originally had a “right wing”[2] orientation. It was one of the most well-known and vehement pro-War on Terrorism websites in the early days of the blogosphere. Johnson stated in 2006:
I’m not pretending I’m giving equal time to both sides. But I do think what I’m advocating, and what I believe in, is the right side.[3]

After eight years of being a leading right wing blog, LGF started condemning racism and the far-right (especially the Belgian party Vlaams Belang). After that, the site abruptly switched sides and now “LGF has become better known for the various fights it picks with many on the right.”[who?][4] During the transition period, Johnson deleted many of his more extreme past entries on the site, deleted entire comment sections, and banned many of the former right wing commentators from the site.[5]

LGF did NOT originally have a “right wing orientation.” That’s simply wrong. In fact it was the opposite. LGF mainly focused on design and programming stuff, but any political posts were very much left wing-oriented.

And “abruptly switched sides” is nothing but a biased way of putting this, supported by no evidence. It was anything but abrupt - it happened over the course of months, maybe years, in which I was increasingly disenchanted with the right.

The only thing that’s objectively true about this biased garbage is that I banned many right wing commenters. I did, absolutely, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

214

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 2:58:22pm

re: #209 Charles Johnson

You may be thinking of comments — I’m sure there are a lot more than 356 deleted comments! I was referring to front page articles only.

But your point is correct - deleted comments are always for cause.

what about regular pages that were deleted? I remember more than a couple of spammers from India and thereabouts who were spamming the pages.

215

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 2:59:16pm

re: #213 Charles Johnson

“Abruptly banned me” may be what happened.

216

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 2:59:36pm

re: #214 Backwoods_Sleuth

what about regular pages that were deleted? I remember more than a couple of spammers from India and thereabouts who were spamming the pages.

User submitted pages are also not counted in the numbers I gave, but yes, there would be a lot more if I counted all of that attempted spam.

217

Dopamine Fish Aug 15, 2021 • 2:59:53pm

re: #213 Charles Johnson

The only thing that’s objectively true about this biased garbage is that I banned many right wing commenters. I did, absolutely, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

And let’s be clear: You didn’t ban them because they’re right-wingers, per se. To a man, they were shitty people and made comments that would be bannable in many places, not just here.

218

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 3:01:21pm

re: #217 Dopamine Fish

And let’s be clear: You didn’t ban them because they’re right-wingers, per se. To a man, they were shitty people and made comments that would be bannable in many places, not just here.

One of whom actually posted a death threat that got me a call from the FBI.

219

Patricia Kayden Aug 15, 2021 • 3:01:46pm

re: #212 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

Exactly. Religions are man made. Religious rules are man made. Men control other men via religious dogmas.

220

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 3:04:41pm

They can count and complain and quibble all they want. You can’t argue with results. The result here being the welcoming environment it is especially for those that more than scratch the surface of news and events.

221

Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus Aug 15, 2021 • 3:04:44pm

re: #213 Charles Johnson

When I first checked out LGF in 2005/2006 (I was in Japan at the time), I went back and looked at the earliest posts I could find. Some cyclist stuff, a lot of programming stuff, a bit of music. I always presumed that LGF was a personal blog that then went all-in with the war-on-terror movement. In that latter phase there were quite a bit post about Islamic terrorism. But then again, that was happening all over the internet.

But LGF was never “right wing” in the American Christo-nationalism sense that MAGA demonstrates.

222

Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus Aug 15, 2021 • 3:07:49pm

For the first couple of years posting here, I was waging a low-level battle against the anti-science types. They came as part of the anti-terrorism crowd. Between the creationists and the corporate-programmed anti-climatology crowd it made for some drama-filled interchanges.

223

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 3:08:58pm

re: #222 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

That whole flouncing over creationism episode was an eye-opener.

224

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 3:12:25pm

More importantly, where’s Abdul Ghani Baradar? Oh right. He’s in Kabul today claiming to be president of Afghanistan because your former boss stupidly freed him from prison in 2018. Sit down, Kayleigh. https://t.co/tmnbWE0mKw

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) August 15, 2021

225

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 3:12:43pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

It’s fucking ridiculous. First, I have deleted VERY FEW posts in LGF’s history. The claim that I deleted many posts is a complete falsehood. So is the claim that I deleted “entire comments sections.”

You deleted many posts and entire comments from the wingnuts who were banned. That’s where they are getting this disinfo.

226

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 3:12:57pm

Grace has been downgraded to a depression, however the National Hurricane Center expects it to become a tropical storm again after it clears Cuba. It is currently located south of Puerto Rico.

The track has been adjusted much farther south; the path now takes the storm into Texas.

227

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 3:13:01pm

re: #215 jaunte

“Abruptly banned me” may be what happened.

Could very well be.

228

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 3:15:18pm

BREAKING: The Texas Supreme Court is temporarily blocking mask mandates put in place by counties and ISDs. pic.twitter.com/gS1mLZRRAe

— Matt Largey (@mattlargey) August 15, 2021

Now that we have no ICU capacity left.

229

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 3:17:50pm

re: #222 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

For the first couple of years posting here, I was waging a low-level battle against the anti-science types. They came as part of the anti-terrorism crowd. Between the creationists and the corporate-programmed anti-climatology crowd it made for some drama-filled interchanges.

The anti-science stuff was a huge problem for me, starting as far back as 2005, if I recall correctly. I remember actually being surprised by how many of the people commenting at LGF were hard core creationists, that’s how freaking naïve I was. Then climate change became a similar fracture point. Then the so-called anti-jihad blogs decided to start hooking up with outright fucking Nazis in Europe, and I was done.

230

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 3:20:27pm

According to @NOAA, this past July was the Earth’s hottest month on record. That’s why the work being done right here in #Alaska is so important to combat the #climate crisis. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/XVNkR9BLUs

— Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) August 15, 2021

231

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 3:21:22pm

The closest this loser ever came to bravery was pretending he had a big dick on Twitter. https://t.co/QTWkm7wMd9

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) August 15, 2021

232

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 3:21:41pm

Both the anti-mask lawsuit against FWISD, and the judge who granted a temporary restraining order supporting it, are stunning in their dishonesty. A brief thread:

— Chip Stewart (@MediaLawProf) August 15, 2021

One more: There was a simple way for the judge to rule against the FWISD mask requirement, by just saying it violated Abbott’s executive order (a legit argument). But that wouldn’t have immediately stopped the mask rule. They had to invent “irreparable harm” to kids for that.

— Chip Stewart (@MediaLawProf) August 15, 2021

233

I Would Prefer Not To Aug 15, 2021 • 3:29:11pm

Someday I hope to write tweets this good.

The situation in Afghanistan makes America look so bad, Texas has already banned schools from teaching it

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 15, 2021

234

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 3:30:47pm

re: #169 Charles Johnson

You can’t make me watch that. Nope.

All it proved was that he could stand up while a bunch of dancers danced around him to a dumb music track.

235

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 3:30:58pm

re: #229 Charles Johnson

I’d never heard of LGF until the article came out in Huffington Post about “the break with the right.”

Afterwards I read it for some time until one of the sign up windows appeared.

236

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 3:33:23pm

re: #233 I Would Prefer Not To

Someday I hope to write tweets this good.

[Embedded content]

Far too many people doing the “How can you joke about what’s going in over there?” thing in the replies without realizing the point of the joke.

237

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 3:34:48pm

re: #189 A Three Hour Tour

Dubya went into Iraq to finish the job that a decade of media pundit driven second-guessing had concluded that Poppy, Cheney and Powell fumbled in 1991. The attempts to link Saddam to al-Qaeda were the pretext to go back into Iraq to remove an embarrassing thorn in our side.

In THEIR side. Not ours.

238

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 3:44:55pm

re: #237 retired cynic

In THEIR side. Not ours.

The US’s side. Saddam’s antics with weapon inspectors throughout the nineties vexed the Clinton administration as well.

239

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 3:46:23pm

re: #238 A Three Hour Tour

The US’s side. Saddam’s antics with weapon inspectors throughout the nineties vexed the Clinton administration as well.

Wasn’t the cause of the invasion, though. They wanted that before W entered the White House. They were just looking for a pretext.

240

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 3:55:56pm

re: #239 retired cynic

Wasn’t the cause of the invasion, though. They wanted that before W entered the White House. They were just looking for a pretext.

Both our sides wanted Saddam gone. We almost went back to war with Iraq during the Lewinsky scandal.

When I said “thorn in our side,” I was speaking of the U.S. as a nation. And he was. I also explicitly said that linking Saddam to al-Qaeda was a pretext used by Bush.

What exactly are we quibbling about here?

241

Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David Aug 15, 2021 • 3:56:37pm

re: #238 A Three Hour Tour

The US’s side. Saddam’s antics with weapon inspectors throughout the nineties vexed the Clinton administration as well.

The “attempts to connect Saddam to Al-Qaeda” were pushed by talk radio idiots, proto-magats out in the sticks who think all muslims are the same, and of course the Fox News Couch Tumors™. The Bush administration to my knowledge never went beyond saying that “Saddam’s antics” made the US look weak and like a paper tiger in the Arab world and emboldened terrorists, and that’s why they had to deal with that situation. Because we left Saddam in charge of Iraq in 1991, he’d been spinning the Gulf War as a victory for him ever since.

There were many other, more important to the Cheney crowd, reasons of course, and a lot of bullshit and smoke mirrors, and exaggerations, and not accepting new information when it was available that lead to it, but literally directly pinning 9/11 on Saddam wasn’t really one of them.

242

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 3:57:54pm

re: #239 retired cynic

Wasn’t the cause of the invasion, though. They wanted that before W entered the White House. They were just looking for a pretext.

Wasn’t the casus belli that Iraq had WMD? Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were described as the Axis of Evil who threatened our security.

243

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 3:58:28pm

Was commenting on a mask thread at dkos and looked up our county (San Mateo) to confirm my numbers weren’t off…we’re actually north of 90% vaccinated.

244

retired cynic Aug 15, 2021 • 3:59:51pm

Looks like I am outnumbered, so I quit. I don’t like arguing.

245

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 4:00:13pm

re: #242 Hecuba’s daughter

Wasn’t the casus belli that Iraq had WMD? Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were described as the Axis of Evil who threatened our security.

I didn’t mean that Iraq actually had WMD but that was the Bush allegation, supported by Judith Miller’s reports in the NY Times.

246

Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David Aug 15, 2021 • 4:00:49pm

re: #242 Hecuba’s daughter

Wasn’t the casus belli that Iraq had WMD? Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were described as the Axis of Evil who threatened our security.

That was the way of trying to sell it to everyone not already on board, and trying to get the UN back on board.

It was the “exaggerations, and not accepting new information when it was available” part of it.

247

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 4:01:23pm

re: #242 Hecuba’s daughter

Wasn’t the casus belli that Iraq had WMD? Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were described as the Axis of Evil who threatened our security.

Yep, followed by all the drama with Hans Blix and the UN Weapons Inspectors trying to confirm what the fuck what going on.

248

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 4:01:59pm

re: #241 Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David

The “attempts to connect Saddam to Al-Qaeda” were pushed by talk radio idiots, proto-magats out in the sticks who think all muslims are the same, and of course the Fox News Couch Tumors™. The Bush administration to my knowledge never went beyond saying that “Saddam’s antics” made the US look weak and like a paper tiger in the Arab world and emboldened terrorists, and that’s why they had to deal with that situation. Because we left Saddam in charge of Iraq in 1991, he’d been spinning the Gulf War as a victory for him ever since.

There were many other, more important to the Cheney crowd, reasons of course, and a lot of bullshit and smoke mirrors, and exaggerations, and not accepting new information when it was available that lead to it, but literally directly pinning 9/11 on Saddam wasn’t really one of them.

“Proto-magats out in the sticks who think all Muslims are the same” presumably includes the nascent right-wing blogosphere of war bloggers, many of whom were part of Pajamas Media.

249

A Three Hour Tour Aug 15, 2021 • 4:03:52pm

re: #244 retired cynic

Looks like I am outnumbered, so I quit. I don’t like arguing.

I’m getting a bit cranky, I’m afraid. Sorry. I’ll try to dial it back.

250

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 4:04:12pm

Current Mood:
The family band doing a cover song ;)

Billie Joe Armstrong With His Sons - I Think We’re Alone Now

251

Thanos Aug 15, 2021 • 4:04:36pm

re: #161 Charles Johnson

I used to delete quite a few pages in the old days due to duplicate, spam, inciting violence, etc…. wonder if they are confusing user added pages with official content?

252

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 4:09:32pm

Lots of aircraft going to Afghanistan via Pakistan. Images below and this is a pretty straightforward piece all about it.

253

Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David Aug 15, 2021 • 4:10:39pm

re: #248 A Three Hour Tour

“Proto-magats out in the sticks who think all Muslims are the same” presumably includes the nascent right-wing blogosphere of war bloggers, many of whom were part of Pajamas Media.

Probably but I don’t really know what they were saying specifically in late 2002, early 2003.

If I remember correctly, when PJM was started Charles was involved, and the others involved claimed it was going to be “balanced”. It was clear that it was just a right wing echo chamber after awhile and Charles bailed even before the complete break with the right.

254

Thanos Aug 15, 2021 • 4:13:15pm

re: #229 Charles Johnson

The anti-science stuff was a huge problem for me, starting as far back as 2005, if I recall correctly. I remember actually being surprised by how many of the people commenting at LGF were hard core creationists, that’s how freaking naïve I was. Then climate change became a similar fracture point. Then the so-called anti-jihad blogs decided to start hooking up with outright fucking Nazis in Europe, and I was done.

The anti science and anti gay sentiment came from a relatively large cadre of fundamentalist clash of civilizations types, largely here because they equated your support of Israel during those wars as agreeing with their apocalyptic worldview need to support Israel

255

(((Archangel1))) Aug 15, 2021 • 4:15:08pm

I wish Pompeo was somehow stranded in Kabul right now.

While you were Secretary of State under the So-Called Ruler of the United States (SCROTUS) Trump, you freed the THOUSANDS of imprisoned Taliban murderers now seizing Afghanistan by force.
INCLUDING THEIR LEADER, Abdul Barahar.
The bloodshed from this disaster is ON YOUR HANDS. pic.twitter.com/vTDUxfWP5A

— Arch (Space Laser Vaccination Supervisor) (@Arch_LGF) August 15, 2021

256

Florida Panhandler Aug 15, 2021 • 4:19:58pm

re: #228 jaunte

Now that we have no ICU capacity left.

The Texas Supreme Court doesn’t live in an ivory tower. Their tower is based in Mordor and has a big eye on top of it.

257

Sherlock Hound Aug 15, 2021 • 4:20:00pm

Lookit Chakra Con over here ordering Grift Team Six to scramble the jets https://t.co/vHqC4sWRGN

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) August 15, 2021

258

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 4:21:17pm

SCOTX Chief Justice Hecht considers COVID too dangerous for courthouses, but not for children in schools. https://t.co/ZtdV4CqBuU

— glennwsmith (@glennwsmith) August 15, 2021

259

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 4:22:01pm

Since when has Glenn Greenwald been the Wikipedia editor for LGF?

260

(((Archangel1))) Aug 15, 2021 • 4:24:07pm

re: #245 Hecuba’s daughter

I didn’t mean that Iraq actually had WMD but that was the Bush allegation, supported by Judith Miller’s reports in the NY Times.

Saddam had them in notable quantities the past, and had used them against the Kurdish population on several occasions. The Bush administration’s case was that Iraq still had them and hadn’t done away with them as it insisted after 9/11.
By all accounts, Saddam decided to wait until the very last minute to get rid of what he had left. Biological and chemical weapons can be destroyed relatively fast but take lots of money and years to create and collect, so he wasn’t in a rush to see all that effort thrown away. But it was already too late by that point.

Worth pointing out that for years, there were assessments around the world that the chemical weapons Iraq didn’t destroy may have been transferred to Syria just before US troops entered Iraq. Seeing how such chemical weapons were used on Syria’s civilian population during the civil war years later, those assessments were probably right on the target.
None of which justified the catastrophic disaster that was the post-campaign handling of that country.

261

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 4:27:26pm

Trump had no plan and would have left Afghanistan sooner with an even worse outcome. Don’t blame Biden for the previous administrations’ failures, blame #TalibanTrump https://t.co/aEovobnJzl

— Purl 🌊🌺 (@freshwaterpurl) August 15, 2021

262

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:28:05pm

Dumbass.

The main difference is there are WAY more fundamentalist Muslims in the world and their brand of fundamentalism is much more dangerous. All religion is bad, but some are more bad than others. Noting these differences is important in changing their culture.

— Liz (@KorikoQueen) August 15, 2021

263

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:29:45pm

re: #229 Charles Johnson

Then the so-called anti-jihad blogs decided to start hooking up with outright fucking Nazis in Europe, and I was done.

Yup, while accusing Muslims of being Nazis and holding Muslims responsible for the Holocaust.

Strong cognitive dissonance by these folks.

264

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 4:30:22pm

All this bitching about Afghanistan is almost - ALMOST - enough to make you forget we’re in a pandemic.

265

Teukka Aug 15, 2021 • 4:31:45pm

re: #264 Eclectic Cyborg

All this bitching about Afghanistan is almost - ALMOST - enough to make you forget we’re in a pandemic.

Until you read that the Taliban are banning CoViD vaccinations because of their religion. Which is rich, considering where Edward Jenner (father of vaxxes) got the idea…

266

Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David Aug 15, 2021 • 4:31:47pm

re: #262 electrotek

Dumbass.

[Embedded content]

Exhibit 35464 of extreme islamophobia that exists in the atheist community.

267

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 4:32:17pm

re: #264 Eclectic Cyborg

All this bitching about Afghanistan is almost - ALMOST - enough to make you forget we’re in a pandemic.

Right up till an anti-mask/anti-vax Proud Boy gets in your face.

268

Thanos Aug 15, 2021 • 4:34:17pm

I think that the wiki article is very out of date, it seems frozen after the period where you gradually changed the blog for the better. I remember several times when you adopted clearly centrist and leftist stances on a variety of topics that basically drove a lot of user contingents to flounce and leave en masse. From your opposition to birtherism, to climate change, to changing to support for President Obama, to support for equality for gays, the list goes on….

Essentially you could have been the Griftiest grifter on the right by now had you not let yourself live the way of principled journalism.

269

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:34:47pm

Stop with your moral relativism. Living in a western country as a gay Muslim or atheist former Muslim is objectively better than somewhere like Saudi Arabia. Simply being a woman is better!

— Liz (@KorikoQueen) August 15, 2021

lol she should go visit Brazil or Hungary.

270

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 4:35:26pm

re: #263 electrotek

Yup, while accusing Muslims of being Nazis and holding Muslims responsible for the Holocaust.

Strong cognitive dissonance by these folks.

Judaism has more in common with Islam than with Christianity. There actually IS a “Judeo-Islamic tradition” but the so-called “Judeo-Christian tradition” is made up by Christian evangelicals who want to incite “Armageddon” so “Jesus” will return and all the Jews who don’t become Christians will die.

271

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:36:13pm

re: #270 The Pie Overlord!

Judaism has more in common with Islam than with Christianity. There actually IS a “Judeo-Islamic tradition” but the so-called “Judeo-Christian tradition” is made up by Christian evangelicals who want to incite “Armageddon” so “Jesus” will return and all the Jews who don’t become Christians will die.

Yup.

And prior to 1945 “Judeo-Christian” didn’t even exist

272

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 4:36:26pm

Oh boy. It’s mayhem.
Mayhem At Kabul Airport Causing American Troops To Fire Warning Shots To Push Back Crowds (Updated)

A video has emerged that appears to show U.S. troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul shooting into the air as they try to keep civilians off the flightline. Throngs of Afghans trying to flee the country are presently stranded at the airport, which is currently being run entirely by the U.S. military and has been closed to commercial aircraft. The airport has become an island of foreign control within the Afghan capital, which is otherwise all but entirely under de facto control of the Taliban. You can read more about the Taliban’s advance into the city and the U.S. and other foreign evacuation operations that have been going on all day in The War Zone’s initial reporting on the still-developing crisis here.

#US troops at #Kabul International Airport were forced to fire in the air in order to control the crowd of Afghans wanting to get out of #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/bGnqk3L1Wq

— Aldin 🇧🇦 (@aldin_ww) August 15, 2021

thedrive.com

273

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:36:40pm

I dont advocate for killing Muslims or anyone. I advocate for telling them these things are wrong in their culture that they need to change. Bring them into the 21st century.

— Liz (@KorikoQueen) August 15, 2021

274

Weaselone Aug 15, 2021 • 4:38:06pm

re: #272 Rightwingconspirator

Isn’t the airport outside the capital, not within it?

275

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 4:39:59pm

re: #264 Eclectic Cyborg

Funny that.

I’m to the place where I think media outlets need to be the target of protests and direct action. How that manifests has to hit them in the pocketbook. Hard. The media is directly responsible for withholding information, twisting it in such a way that we’re blaming each other rather than those really responsible, framing things and taking a right wing spin on damned near anything. Did they really hold the Bush administration responsible for not getting bin Laden ever? They totally downplayed the role of Saudi Arabia in 9/11 and helped feed the narrative that Saddam was the same danger to us that bin Laden was. They surely the hell didn’t tell us how a lot of already rich fucks were using defense contracting to get even more rich. They could have educated and tried to unite the country and they couldn’t be bothered. For Money. They’re still fucking doing it, about everything. It’s rare to see truthful and fact based reporting, and we are going to have to fight to fix it.

276

Florida Panhandler Aug 15, 2021 • 4:40:21pm

re: #261 The Pie Overlord!

The truth is there was never any outcome other than a quick Taliban takeover no matter who was President of the US. The US undertook a gradual withdrawal over a number of years and every single time the Taliban immediately seized power. There never was any Afghan Government in the last 20 years that wasn’t totally and 100% propped up by $billions USD per year funded by US taxpayers …and still would have immediately folded if the US withdrew despite the Trillions spent. Well, here we are.

The US taxpayer could have funded this Pentagon-directed sham 1 year, 10 years, 1000 years and the exact same result would have been the same except with more and more money down the toilet. Afghanistan is not and will never be a democracy in any Western sense of the word. Islam and local tribal norms are their history and future. The world will have to readjust and learn how to deal with the Taliban isolated in their little corner of the world for a long time.

277

FFL (GOP Delenda Est) Aug 15, 2021 • 4:40:37pm

re: #273 electrotek

Hmm… sort of assuming there is a universal Muslim culture here?

278

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:41:14pm

Part of me wants to be upset at Biden for this debacle, but realistically Afghanistan would have fell no matter what.

The real blame should go towards Trump for strengthening the Taliban last year, which many Republicans conveniently omit.

279

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 4:42:14pm

re: #274 Weaselone

Isn’t the airport outside the capital, not within it?

Seems to me the northern edge.
google.com

280

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:42:41pm

re: #276 Florida Panhandler

The truth is there was never any outcome other than a quick Taliban takeover no matter who was President of the US. The US undertook a gradual withdrawal over a number of years and every single time the Taliban immediately seized power. There never was any Afghan Government in the last 20 years that wasn’t totally and 100% propped up by $billions USD per year funded by US taxpayers …and still would have immediately folded if the US withdrew despite the Trillions spent. Well, here we are.

The US taxpayer could have funded this Pentagon-directed sham 1 year, 10 years, 1000 years and the exact same result would have been the same except with more and more money down the toilet. Afghanistan is not and will never be a democracy in any Western sense of the word. Islam and local tribal norms are their history and future. The world will have to readjust and learn how to deal with the Taliban isolated in their little corner of the world for a long time.

The fucked up thing is that religious minorities will suffer the most under them, most especially Shi’as.

281

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 4:43:20pm

re: #278 electrotek

That is part of what I said in my #42 but one of the pot stirrers came in and down dinged what I said.

282

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 4:43:47pm

re: #278 electrotek

Part of me wants to be upset at Biden for this debacle, but realistically Afghanistan would have fell no matter what.

The real blame should go towards Trump for strengthening the Taliban last year, which many Republicans conveniently omit.

What makes you upset with Biden?

283

Weaselone Aug 15, 2021 • 4:44:57pm

re: #279 Rightwingconspirator

Seems to me the northern edge.
google.com

Thanks.

284

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 4:45:05pm

Even if Biden had done something it would ultimately just have delayed the inevitable.

285

Rightwingconspirator Aug 15, 2021 • 4:45:40pm

re: #278 electrotek

Part of me wants to be upset at Biden for this debacle, but realistically Afghanistan would have fell no matter what.

The real blame should go towards Trump for strengthening the Taliban last year, which many Republicans conveniently omit.

Gonna disagree with that first sentence part of you. At least two Presidents quailed at the need to depart. They left it to the bitter end and Joe just happens to be the guy with the stones to get out. We can argue the execution of all this later. Completely agree with your second point.

286

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:48:06pm

re: #285 Rightwingconspirator

Gonna disagree with that first sentence part of you. At least two Presidents quailed at the need to depart. They left it to the bitter end and Joe just happens to be the guy with the stones to get out. We can argue the execution of all this later. Completely agree with your second point.

Fair, I’m just a bit emotional at the moment. Just can’t believe my eyes to how quickly Kabul had fallen.

287

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:48:34pm

re: #282 Belafon

What makes you upset with Biden?

Honestly, I’m not thinking straight at all about this.

288

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:48:40pm

I’m not white. And they literally do need saving.

— Liz (@KorikoQueen) August 15, 2021

289

A hollow voice says NOW drain that swamp! Aug 15, 2021 • 4:50:44pm

re: #271 electrotek

Yup.

And prior to 1945 “Judeo-Christian” didn’t even exist

Actually, it goes back to the 19th century.

290

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 4:51:08pm

re: #289 A hollow voice says NOW drain that swamp!

Actually, it goes back to the 19th century.

Does it really? If so, I stand corrected.

291

teleskiguy Aug 15, 2021 • 4:51:32pm

My representative in Congress is so cool.

Bobert was one of 16 members of Congress in July who voted against increasing visas for Afghans who helped the US in the war. https://t.co/mnX2ZEN6OT https://t.co/cwuCGlZSuq

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) August 15, 2021

292

JC1 Aug 15, 2021 • 4:52:33pm

re: #241 Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David

The “attempts to connect Saddam to Al-Qaeda” were pushed by talk radio idiots, proto-magats out in the sticks who think all muslims are the same, and of course the Fox News Couch Tumors™. The Bush administration to my knowledge never went beyond saying that “Saddam’s antics” made the US look weak and like a paper tiger in the Arab world and emboldened terrorists, and that’s why they had to deal with that situation. Because we left Saddam in charge of Iraq in 1991, he’d been spinning the Gulf War as a victory for him ever since.

There were many other, more important to the Cheney crowd, reasons of course, and a lot of bullshit and smoke mirrors, and exaggerations, and not accepting new information when it was available that lead to it, but literally directly pinning 9/11 on Saddam wasn’t really one of them.

W’s admin actively pushed the idea of Saddam providing WMDs to terrorists. As Condi Rice said ‘We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud’.

293

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 4:52:52pm

re: #286 electrotek

Fair, I’m just a bit emotional at the moment. Just can’t believe my eyes to how quickly Kabul had fallen.

I’m more surprised it took as long as it did. Probably the bad roads slowing the march down.

294

A hollow voice says NOW drain that swamp! Aug 15, 2021 • 4:54:27pm

re: #290 electrotek

Does it really? If so, I stand corrected.

Thus sayeth the OED.

295

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 4:54:37pm

re: #290 electrotek

I think that was part of the enlightenment to allow those of the Jewish faith to become more like their fellow Europeans. At least that is what I remember from Simon Shama and his series The Story of the Jews.

296

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 4:54:38pm

re: #281 PhillyPretzel

That is part of what I said in my #42 but one of the pot stirrers came in and down dinged what I said.

It’s what he does…really free with insulting us here but can’t take even the tiniest bit of pushback.

297

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 4:55:52pm

re: #296 Backwoods_Sleuth

Very thin skin almost like DT.

298

Dread Pirate Ron Aug 15, 2021 • 4:58:12pm

Even on a Sunday, over 10,500 firefighters remain on the frontlines of 10 active large wildfires. Get the latest on these incidents at: https://t.co/8H35kllXgs pic.twitter.com/c4k5sZHEYq

— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 15, 2021

It is very smokey outside. I can’t see the hill 2 miles away.

299

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 4:58:44pm

The former guy made a deal to completely pull out of Afghanistan by May 1st. If Trump had been reelected, what do you think THAT withdrawal would have looked like, overseen by the most corrupt, incompetent, and uncaring administration in US history?

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 15, 2021

300

JC1 Aug 15, 2021 • 4:59:25pm

re: #269 electrotek

lol she should go visit Brazil or Hungary.

Still orders of magnitude better than Saudi Arabia.

301

KingKenrod Aug 15, 2021 • 5:03:09pm

The Taliban have been attacking Afghan national forces relentlessly since the peace agreement was signed last year - because the agreement did nothing to protect them, it only protected the US and coalition forces. That may explain why things fell so quickly.

302

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 5:03:57pm

re: #301 KingKenrod

The Taliban have been attacking Afghan national forces relentlessly since the peace agreement was signed last year - because the agreement did nothing to protect them, it only protected the US and coalition forces. That may explain why things fell so quickly.

Why am I not surprised that the “master negotiator” didn’t think things through when making a deal with the Talibs?

303

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 5:05:18pm

re: #295 PhillyPretzel

I think that was part of the enlightenment to allow those of the Jewish faith to become more like their fellow Europeans. At least that is what I remember from Simon Shama and his series The Story of the Jews.

According to Isaac Leeser, a Jewish communal leader in Philadelphia from the 1840’s-1860’s, “Judeo-Christian” was a marketing gimmick by evangelicals to entice Jews to convert to Christianity. Leeser was a refugee from the German “Hep pogroms”

304

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 5:05:33pm

re: #302 electrotek

Why am I not surprised that the “master negotiator” didn’t think things through when making a deal with the Talibs?

He did. He knew his base would love it if he told the Taliban to fuck off.

305

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 5:06:15pm

re: #303 The Pie Overlord!

Ahh. Thanks. And from Philly too.

306

piratedan Aug 15, 2021 • 5:07:07pm

re: #286 electrotek

it really helps to understand what was taking place while COVID was running rampant is that the TFG cut a deal with the Taliban stating that he was going to draw down forces and don’t do a bunch of crap forcing him to throw more in… he even invited them to Camp David and pressured Kabul to release Taliban prisoners (which they did for apparently zero concessions).

With that in their pocket, apparently the Taliban started working with local government entities to take over, which was apparently very successful and done so on the down-low because there was very little reported about it. Hence why we’re seeing such incredible ease and speed of turnover.

Could Biden have done more… I take into account that TFG hollowed out the State Dept, left a raging pandemic going on and an attempted coup. Yeah, we’re supposed to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, but its also as if our Military who has been on the ground has kept mostly silent about this and not been exactly forthcoming about what was in the wind.

We have a lotta of shit going on, a soft Civil War, where the good guys are now fighting on multiple fronts, federally, in each state, judicially and voting rights and trying to make effective steps in climate change and income inequality and a media that thinks that this is a game where someone should keep score.

If the people of Afghanistan want to be jump started into the 20th or 21st century it will likely have to be at the hands of women, because apparently few men have the stones to make it happen.

307

(((Archangel1))) Aug 15, 2021 • 5:10:47pm

Hey @Jack @TwitterSupport -
Why are you permitting these repeated violations of Twitter’s terms with zero consequences?
At best, she’s repeatedly circumventing your Ban Evasion Policy. At worst, it’s actually a fake account for someone you’ve permanently banned. #BanLizNowJack https://t.co/496BLuWEdW pic.twitter.com/8MPuu1tHsX

— Arch (Space Laser Vaccination Supervisor) (@Arch_LGF) August 16, 2021

308

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 5:11:11pm

Some good news. I just hit 57,000 karma. ::: Champagne for the room :::

309

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 5:14:46pm

re: #273 electrotek

Secular and religious Europeans and Americans—okay, white people in general—have exactly zero interest in dissecting how colonialism and neocolonialism gave power to the Islamic fundamentalists, creating the current day crisis that primarily kills Muslims.

Confronting that colonizers destroyed humanistic and scholarly traditions in nations they controlled, or that they subcontracted use of force to the most violent regional powers that eventually discovered some variety of fundamentalism as moral explanation for their behavior (in keeping with an earlier era of conquerors that comingled material and spiritual justifications for conquest) isn’t satisfying, isn’t flattering to the modern ego-trip dichotomy of civilized people and uncivilized people, smart thinkers and stupid believers. It suggests a complicated in which material conditions inform culture and culture informs ideology, so ideology bends and flexes in ways inconsistent with the Enlightenment understanding of how people think and believe. That secularists simply imported the base assumptions rooted in god concepts to construct power and control systems, that holy men sanctify the venal, suggests that all abstractions are equally unreal and equal in their capacity to be hollowed out.

Christian and secular white power-holders were exactly the same kind of monster—thieves, rapists, and torturers stripping the entire planet of assets for the sake of a tiny elite with bad taste—and part of that monstrousness was to give money, power, and credibility to the worst elements in the Middle East because the alternative was less petroleum. Given a choice between a slightly leftist MIddle East and dumping a trillion dollars into the coffers of fundamentalists…the West chose the latter, because something something Communism.

Mind you, this is all just a part of the larger problem of people at the top of an empire building their culture around an inability to understand that the subalterns are watching them back and drawing conclusions. That some Middle Easterners would look at the continuous perfidy, hypocrisy, and ouroborous of fucking-each-other-over their European controllers engaged in and react by becoming tight ass bastards trying to build the perfect inflexible society (once Communism was off the table, because all the social democrats, socialists, and communists had been silenced through terror and assassination) that wouldn’t be full of that shit. Europeans clucking about women in burkas in the old colonies have a tendency to forget that when they were in charge of those countries they were treating those women as whores and targets for assault; Americans and Europeans fuming over dirty tactics and terror usually do so while ignorant of their own state’s application of terror and dirty tactics.

(And also fundamentally not-engaging with the notion that, say, strafing a village from a helicopter is also a form of cowardice)

I strongly suspect that if we were to ask Afghans how everything failed over the last twenty years, they would have a very different picture of who America was and how America fights wars than America does…and there would be valid insights that people would be uncomfortable to hear.

310

teleskiguy Aug 15, 2021 • 5:14:59pm

1 February 2021

We’ve been in Afghanistan for more than half my life.

We need to end the endless wars. https://t.co/h1gWKACf2F

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 1, 2021

Today

Joe Biden was in the Senate when America pulled out of Saigon in 1975.

He didn’t learn. pic.twitter.com/CStVZiTYXf

— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) August 15, 2021

Some people have the memory of a chipmunk.

311

garzooma Aug 15, 2021 • 5:18:28pm

re: #213 Charles Johnson

From Wikipedia:
[…]
And “abruptly switched sides” is nothing but a biased way of putting this…
[…]

You make it sound like a bad thing. As far as I’m concerned, the more abrupt, the better.

312

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 5:18:28pm

re: #276 Florida Panhandler

……
The US taxpayer could have funded this Pentagon-directed sham 1 year, 10 years, 1000 years and the exact same result would have been the same except with more and more money down the toilet. Afghanistan is not and will never be a democracy in any Western sense of the word. Islam and local tribal norms are their history and future. The world will have to readjust and learn how to deal with the Taliban isolated in their little corner of the world for a long time.

Never is a very long time. The Afghan government when the Soviets came in was far more progressive and had more control of the nation. Things can change quickly — we will have to see if ultimately somehow they evolve. Indeed, do we know how much of a role that the Russians played in this victory? — we helped to drive them out in the 1980’s and then never followed through on stabilizing the country. The Russians are out to tear us down any chance they get.

313

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 5:18:53pm

re: #310 teleskiguy

Because we were doing so fucking well in Vietnam…

314

Michele: Recovering Social Media Addict Aug 15, 2021 • 5:18:56pm

Night Lizards. Starting to get a bit “warm” here in the room. So stepping out for the night.
May you all be well and have a blessed night.

315

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 5:21:47pm

Aghast Afghan diplomats not holding back in denouncing flight of Ghani and his ‘crooks.’ https://t.co/bDHoY2Qlrf

— Jeff Stein (@SpyTalker) August 16, 2021

316

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 5:22:52pm

The latest update from the Biden administration, on #Afghanistan: pic.twitter.com/VA0OR4Ncb8

— David Gura (@davidgura) August 15, 2021

317

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 5:23:43pm

I can’t get over the fact that VS Code runs in a browser window. I’ll have to investigate this. I suspect it may actually be a web app to start with, and the standalone app is using something like Electron to package it as an executable.

318

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 5:24:58pm

319

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 5:27:07pm

This made me laugh…sorry July…you got fucked and not in a good way.

320

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 5:27:35pm

If you actually think Trump would have handled the Afghanistan withdrawal better, I have to ask: are you injecting bleach?

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 16, 2021

321

darthstar Aug 15, 2021 • 5:28:02pm

At least my mom will be happy - July 4.

322

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 5:29:02pm

re: #319 darthstar

This made me laugh…sorry July…you got fucked and not in a good way.

[Embedded content]

YAYY I GOT THE ROCK!!!

323

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:06pm

The dude out of focus is MS Governor Tate Reeves announcing he still won’t implement Covid restrictions.

The dude in focus staring a death glare at Reeves is MS State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, who has been begging people to mask and vaccinate.

324

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:18pm

Governor Hot Wheels spent all the maintenance money on a border fence. https://t.co/UIfLN6uimk

— GreatGrey (@GreatGrey) August 16, 2021

325

PhillyPretzel Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:25pm

re: #319 darthstar

I have no idea who the guy is for February. He looks nice.

326

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:27pm

I don’t recognize Feb or Oct.

327

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:29pm

re: #322 The Pie Overlord!

YAYY I GOT THE ROCK!!!

Me too!!

328

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 5:30:40pm

re: #299 Charles Johnson

There would have been zero Afghans that helped us evacuated.

— Blue in Red Texas (@RockwallBlue) August 16, 2021

329

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 5:31:28pm

re: #324 Backwoods_Sleuth

When Climate Change LITERALLY comes right to your fucking door.

330

b.d. (Cough Louder Conservatives!) Aug 15, 2021 • 5:31:39pm

Trump got reinstated just two days ago and look how bad things have gotten!

331

KingKenrod Aug 15, 2021 • 5:32:00pm

Feb is that guy from Limitless - Bradley Cooper. Right?

332

Charles Johnson Aug 15, 2021 • 5:32:55pm

This has very little to do with partisan politics, and very much to do with the voracious appetite of the military industrial complex. https://t.co/BzyALk7cf3

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 16, 2021

333

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 5:33:14pm

re: #309 The Ghost of a Flea

For most of the world, the “Enlightenment” and the civilizing process were presented in bad faith: the people that endorsed reason and science arrived, shot your family, and stole your land while using “reason” and “science” as the explanation for why they were permitted to do it. And if you attempted to play their game in good faith, you still couldn’t become their actual equal: if you tried to be a man of modernity you were mocked as inauthentic, an imitator.

It was always lose/lose.

Fast forward to post-WW2 and if you’re an educated secular person in a colonized region or ex-colony…chances are pretty good that Europeans view you as a dangerous radical precisely because you’re using the language of universal human rights and humanist values to point out that the entirety of Europe as well as the USA are criminals and genocidaires. And if you really pissed off the colonialists they’d have you killed and replaced with a dictator who had no complicated notions about equality and franchise.

334

KingKenrod Aug 15, 2021 • 5:33:18pm

October is Keith Urban.

335

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 5:34:44pm

Why did Trump release the new President of Afghanistan (the leader of the Taliban) from prison in 2018?

— United for the People (@people4kam) August 15, 2021

336

FFL (GOP Delenda Est) Aug 15, 2021 • 5:38:01pm

re: #335 Dave In Austin

1. Ordered to by Putin.
2. Offered a franchise for Trump Hotel Kabul.
3. Jr. to be given some drugs at a cheap price.
4. To help establish another country with a non-extradition treaty with the USA.
5. Did not read the memo on the desk before signing it. (Thought it was ordering a cheeseburger and a Diet Coke.)

///

337

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 5:39:25pm

Joe Walsh continues to impress me with each passing day:

So many of these Republicans now blasting Biden for this exit didn’t say shit last year when Trump actually said he trusted the Taliban and then set in motion an even earlier exit.

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 15, 2021

338

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 5:40:46pm

I wonder is there are fully loaded Buff’s sitting on the tarmac at Diego Garcia?

339

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:42:53pm

Reports that USAF C-17 RCH871 airborne out of #Kabul in #Afghanistan has 800 passengers on board! Incredible work being done by #USAF and allied aircrews just now which will without a doubt go down in the history books #AvGeek #RadioGeek #MilMonWorld #BravoZulu pic.twitter.com/8De9wLusWb

— Military Monitoring World (@MilMonWorld) August 15, 2021

340

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 5:43:26pm

re: #329 Eclectic Cyborg

One could say it’s a Sign From God….

341

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:43:38pm

Huh. Interesting. You may be right that the 670 is inflated. I did a very rough head count, and I don’t think it could be any more than about 400. Another photo released by Stars & Stripes during the same operation cites 479 people on another C-17 flight. https://t.co/fSfCbgMjU4

— Steve Trimble (@TheDEWLine) August 16, 2021

342

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 5:45:01pm

re: #339 jaunte

Some tweets have said that there are 80,000 Afghanis who helped us (maybe that includes their families too). So that means at least 100 flights just for them.

343

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 5:47:27pm

Oh. https://t.co/BdznbnsV7q

— meidastouch.com (@MeidasTouch) August 15, 2021

Why did you delete this page applauding Trump for sitting down with the Taliban and striking a deal with them? https://t.co/hPeREYr3eS pic.twitter.com/580v2zYABx

— Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) August 16, 2021

344

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:47:28pm

re: #342 Hecuba’s daughter

I see reports of RAF, Indian AF, UAE and USAF cargo flights into Kabul.

345

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 5:48:34pm

re: #131 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

Side note about the Washington Post paywall: if you happen to have a .gov or .mil email address they will give you a digital subscription free of charge. If you have a .edu you get something like a 90% discount.

WaPo and NYT are the only news sources I’m an official subscriber to, and it’s all I can do not to cancel the NYT. I keep talking myself into and out of it.

I do the Washington Post and the Dallas Morning News so that I am supporting a local one.

346

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:50:15pm

This is exactly right from @MediaLawProf. Judge Chupp misrepresented the role of masks himself, accepted quackery as fact and distorted the established distinction between an executive decision and board policy. In any other urban county, the decision would be quickly overturned. https://t.co/Zmx6eyX7Yo

— Bud Kennedy / #ReadLocal (@BudKennedy) August 16, 2021

347

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 5:51:01pm

“President Trump has continued to take the lead in peace talks as he signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan” — h/t @daveweigel who appears to have spotted first https://t.co/CNocg3g1OZ

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 15, 2021

348

Yeah Sure WhatEVs Aug 15, 2021 • 5:52:51pm

re: #319 darthstar

This made me laugh…sorry July…you got fucked and not in a good way.

[Embedded content]

Not my husband. Never would be my husband. The thought of that makes me want to vomit.

349

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 5:55:24pm

All the black areas on this infrared satellite imagery depict hot and actively burning wildfires. An incredible amount of fire on the ground right now in southern B.C., eastern Washington, and parts of Montana—and many of these are threatening populated areas. #BCwx #WAwx #MTwx https://t.co/Xz9sWgI47T

— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) August 16, 2021

350

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 5:57:44pm

re: #342 Hecuba’s daughter

Some tweets have said that there are 80,000 Afghanis who helped us (maybe that includes their families too). So that means at least 100 flights just for them.

Given that subsequent information shows the plane can carry only 188 passengers, that would mean at least 426 flights would be needed to evacuate everyone who helped us.

351

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 6:02:17pm

I have no idea what the fuck this is even supposed to mean, but then again I do not have a snout full of cocaine.

Don Jr, the master of posting memes, is at it again. (IG Story) pic.twitter.com/lrhNOALW1Y

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) August 16, 2021

352

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 6:02:24pm

Spelling Bee champion Zaila Avant-garde can do it all 🙌

(via @DallasWings)pic.twitter.com/Dk5i2Scp0m

— Stadium (@Stadium) August 15, 2021

353

GlutenFreeJesus Aug 15, 2021 • 6:02:31pm

Here we go with the nightly news specials giving the Taliban the very propaganda victory they’ve wanted.

354

Dopamine Fish Aug 15, 2021 • 6:04:01pm

re: #351 The Pie Overlord!

I have no idea what the fuck this is even supposed to mean, but then again I do not have a snout full of cocaine.

Something like, “Sleepy Joe Biden was asleep when the Taliban took Kabul, where was he and why didn’t he do what I’m going to claim now my dad would have done even though he actually negotiated with the terrorists that I’m now pretending to be angry about”

355

Backwoods_Sleuth Aug 15, 2021 • 6:04:10pm

She fell asleep like this. My heart is melting. https://t.co/c3UNGugS8C pic.twitter.com/UjYIDKEOUj

— Illegally Smol Cats (@IllegallySmol) August 15, 2021

niterz, lizardz!

356

Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo Aug 15, 2021 • 6:08:34pm

re: #350 Hecuba’s daughter

Given that subsequent information shows the plane can carry only 188 passengers, that would mean at least 426 flights would be needed to evacuate everyone who helped us.

That’s how many seats you can put in a C-17. Stuffing them in shoulder to shoulder on a cargo floor, a lot more can fit. The record is 1088 in an El Al 747 (maximum 514 seats) during Operation Solomon in 1991.

357

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 6:08:36pm

Cities in Texas are openly defying the governor and the tx Supreme Court, because, unlike Republicans, they are actually pro-life. https://t.co/3Umb1EuB09

— Dr. Alex Wild (@Myrmecos) August 16, 2021

358

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 6:09:18pm

#BREAKING: Dallas ISD will continue with its mask mandate at this time.

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa says the order applied to Dallas County - and did not say one word about @dallasschools.

— Caroline Vandergriff (@c_vandergriff) August 16, 2021

359

Dread Pirate Ron Aug 15, 2021 • 6:10:40pm

Thereby undercutting Afghan government in further negotiations

— Arthur Billingsley (@artbillingsley) August 15, 2021

360

Eric The Fruit Bat Aug 15, 2021 • 6:13:48pm

re: #146 Backwoods_Sleuth

Ya really want to fix things in government and the country as a whole?

An Amendment to the Constitution that declares only living people are citizens, and that legal fictions like corporations are not citizens.

361

A Mom Anon Aug 15, 2021 • 6:14:18pm

re: #353 GlutenFreeJesus

This is why I am watching Nat Geo Wild right now. It’s doggo shows tonight. Cesar Milan and then my fave, Dog: Impossible. Far more useful.

362

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:18:18pm

Ukrainian Foreign Minister.

Ukrainian aircraft stationed in Afghanistan took citizens of Ukraine, the Netherlands, Croatia, Belarus, Afghanistan out of Kabul. They’re safe now. We don’t abandon our people & help others. In case of further requests, will do everything possible to help Ukrainians & foreigners

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) August 15, 2021

363

Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo Aug 15, 2021 • 6:20:30pm

The iconic DC-3 airliner (first flown in 1936 and still in service) was normally set up for 21 passengers. There are many, many reports, some backed by photographic evidence, of DC-3s taking off with 60 or 70 people aboard. The record is something like 100. Passenger space was more generous in the old days, but take a look around your seat next time you have the misfortune to fly commercial. As cramped as it is, it should be possible to see that many more people could fit in the aisles, around the seats and possibly sideways on them if it were a life and death necessity, which it is under the current situation.

364

EstebanTornado1963 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:22:52pm

re: #319 darthstar

This made me laugh…sorry July…you got fucked and not in a good way.

[Embedded content]

Sweet, I’m October and I got Megan Rapinoe…..lol (ugg Keith urban🤮🤮)

365

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:23:19pm

France’s ambassador, who earlier posted this wordless video of himself leaving Kabul’s green zone -which houses government buildings, residences and foreign embassies - will reportedly remained in Kabul airport until all French nationals have been evacuated. As we reported, the British and German ambassadors are also remaining to help people leave.
The US ambassador has left.

France has relocated its embassy in Kabul to the airport. Evacuations have been in progress for weeks and a charter flight put in place by France in mid-July. Since May, France has taken in Afghan employees at French structures under potential threat, with 600 people relocated to France.

France gradually pulled out troops from Afghanistan between 2013 and 2015, and since then former personnel who worked for the French Army and their families, some 1,350 Afghans, were brought to France, according to a statement by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain.

theguardian.com

366

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 6:23:47pm

re: #356 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo

That’s how many seats you can put in a C-17. Stuffing them in shoulder to shoulder on a cargo floor, a lot more can fit. The record is 1088 in an El Al 747 (maximum 514 seats) during Operation Solomon in 1991.

Where would these people be safer, packed in a plane or waiting on the ground?

367

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:24:33pm

The “vast majority” of Afghanistans assets are not held in the country - and therefore cannot fall into the Taliban’s hands, CNN reports, citing a US official familiar with the matter.

“Separately, a Biden administration official said Sunday that any assets the Afghan government has in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban.

So while it’s not exactly clear just how much money is being held in reserves at Da Afghanistan Bank, the US administration is pushing back on some critics who believe the Taliban will have access to the money,” CNN reports.

368

gocart mozart Aug 15, 2021 • 6:24:40pm

President Biden should withdraw troops in Afghanistan by May 1, as the Trump administration planned, but better late than never. It’s time for this forever war to end https://t.co/X679t33NuS

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 13, 2021

369

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 6:25:38pm

re: #368 gocart mozart

That one definitely needs to be saved.

370

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 6:26:08pm

re: #310 teleskiguy

Moral coward who called for this exact outcome on 1 February 2021 https://t.co/rpJK6OBQCQ
says what?

— William A Lewis (@WilliamALewis4) August 16, 2021

371

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:28:15pm

United Nations Secretary-General

Conflict in Afghanistan is forcing hundreds of thousands to flee amid reports of serious human rights violations.

All abuses must stop.

International humanitarian law and human rights, especially the hard-won gains of women and girls, must be preserved.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 15, 2021

372

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 6:29:52pm

re: #366 Belafon

Where would these people be safer, packed in a plane or waiting on the ground?

There was the infamous crash during Operation Babylift in the frantic exodus from Vietnam. But we will have to see how the evacuation proceeds. I wonder how much, if any, of the delay in approving visas was related to the Trump opposition to immigrants/refugees who were not of Nordic ancestry.

373

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:30:40pm

A Roman Catholic has thoughts for an Afghani.

God is with you and would protect you. @UN is completely useless

— Immaculate assumption (@Anthony38571698) August 15, 2021

He doesn’t protect children from Republicans, why would he protect Muslims?

374

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:33:51pm

New Yorker writer.

So they got 2000 out before the Taliban took over, of the nearly 20,000 Afghan interpreters which worked with the US military. After announcing the exit in April…. https://t.co/7pk67vKlBP

— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) August 16, 2021

375

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 6:39:44pm

...

376

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 6:40:34pm

re: #374 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

New Yorker writer.

[Embedded content]

How many did they get out before the past two weeks?

377

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:42:44pm

re: #376 Belafon

How many did they get out before the past two weeks?

From CNN, on visas for Afghan citizens to the US:

As of last Thursday, 1,200 Afghans and their families had been evacuated to America as part of the administration’s “Operation Allies Refuge,” according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price. Those Afghans had been processed at Fort Lee in Virginia, but there are current efforts underway to prepare more US military bases to take in SIV applicants, including Fort Bliss in Texas, two sources familiar with the discussions said.

…

According to sources familiar with the matter, Biden national security officials told senators during a briefing on Afghanistan Sunday that there are as many as 60,000 Afghans who could potentially qualify as SIV holders or applicants, P1/P2 refugees, or others like human rights defenders and could need evacuation.

378

jaunte Aug 15, 2021 • 6:43:13pm

Opportunities to volunteer & donate to help Afghan ally refugees arriving in the DC area, Seattle/Tacoma, Fort Worth, & Houston: https://t.co/cH4osGe5hP

— Laura Seay (@texasinafrica) August 16, 2021

379

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:47:25pm

During the last five years, 8,560 Afghan refugees have come to Virginia, including 428 so far in federal fiscal year ‘21.

For those arriving soon, you’re welcome here in greater Prince William. My team and I are here to serve: DelDRoem@house.virginia.gov.https://t.co/EpZYcZIWBw

— Del. Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) August 15, 2021

380

electrotek Aug 15, 2021 • 6:49:54pm

I want Pakistan to be punished severely for supporting the Taliban.

The amount of Pakistanis I see defending the Taliban and cheering their victory is nauseating.

381

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:50:49pm

Meanwhile, the Governor of Nebraska is still focusing on ~~our Afghani allies~~ Critical Race Theory (our tax dollars at work on a state Website to promote Republican culture wars):

Gov. Ricketts: Fight to Stop Imposition of Critical Race Theory Continues (Official Nebraska Government Website)

382

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:55:31pm

Access to Hamid Karzai International Airport is now not possible without going through Taliban checkpoints.

Kabul airport: chaos and panic as Afghans and foreigners attempt to flee the capital (The Guardian, 21:43 EDT today)

Thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals have surged on to the tarmac at Kabul airport seeking a place on a flight out of the country, amid chaotic scenes that unfolded as the Taliban took control of the city.

With the Taliban installed in the presidential palace and the elected president having fled the country, access to Hamid Karzai airport, five kilometres from the centre of the capital, is now possible only through Taliban checkpoints. The US, UK, Germany, Canada and a host of other coalition nations are all seeking to evacuate their nationals from the country. The airport reportedly came under fire on Sunday.

(rest paywalled)

383

mmmirele Aug 15, 2021 • 6:59:07pm

re: #159 Backwoods_Sleuth

Raymond Burke is an awful person in general. Given his attitude about the vaccination, it’s pretty ironic that he’s on a vent now. Of course, it could have been predicted from the beginning.

384

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 6:59:43pm

re: #372 Hecuba’s daughter

There was the infamous crash during Operation Babylift in the frantic exodus from Vietnam. But we will have to see how the evacuation proceeds. I wonder how much, if any, of the delay in approving visas was related to the Trump opposition to immigrants/refugees who were not of Nordic ancestry.

One of the women who worked on our adoption of my son from Vietnam in 2002 was a survivor of the crash and then brought to America on the next flight.

385

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 6:59:52pm

re: #241 Jack Burton, Gunner on Death Star of David

The “attempts to connect Saddam to Al-Qaeda” were pushed by talk radio idiots, proto-magats out in the sticks who think all muslims are the same, and of course the Fox News Couch Tumors™. The Bush administration to my knowledge never went beyond saying that “Saddam’s antics” made the US look weak and like a paper tiger in the Arab world and emboldened terrorists, and that’s why they had to deal with that situation. Because we left Saddam in charge of Iraq in 1991, he’d been spinning the Gulf War as a victory for him ever since.

There were many other, more important to the Cheney crowd, reasons of course, and a lot of bullshit and smoke mirrors, and exaggerations, and not accepting new information when it was available that lead to it, but literally directly pinning 9/11 on Saddam wasn’t really one of them.

Do not forget the #1 spreader of the Saddam was behind 9/11 and had the WMD…TIM FUCKING RUSSERT who let THE DICK come on Press the Meat and lie his fucking ass off with Russert endlessly kissing his ass.

386

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:03:23pm

re: #257 Sherlock Hound

Hate to break it to you Snow White but the Seven Dwarfs can’t do anything about that.

— The 3-D Zanti Regent (@josephebacon) August 16, 2021

387

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 7:03:27pm

re: #372 Hecuba’s daughter

There was the infamous crash during Operation Babylift in the frantic exodus from Vietnam. But we will have to see how the evacuation proceeds. I wonder how much, if any, of the delay in approving visas was related to the Trump opposition to immigrants/refugees who were not of Nordic ancestry.

Weird story time:

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

388

The Pie Overlord! Aug 15, 2021 • 7:14:31pm

Telling that the policy chief for the Republican Party leader’s critique of Biden admin is not that they are insufficient or incompetent in their effort to exfil our Afghan allies but that they are willing to help them out at all. Sick and depressing. https://t.co/oYVW8BCN4v

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) August 16, 2021

389

Belafon Aug 15, 2021 • 7:16:05pm

re: #381 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

Meanwhile, the Governor of Nebraska is still focusing on ~~our Afghani allies~~ Critical Race Theory (our tax dollars at work on a state Website to promote Republican culture wars):

Gov. Ricketts: Fight to Stop Imposition of Critical Race Theory Continues (Official Nebraska Government Website)

Wait until they find out about students being taught about homomorphism in group theory.

390

Hecuba's daughter Aug 15, 2021 • 7:28:25pm

re: #388 The Pie Overlord!

Was viewing tweets in that timeline and one led me indirectly to a 2019 Intercept article Please don’t tie Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Laura Ingraham, John Cornyn, Candace Owens, Stephen Miller, or Donald Trump to white supremacy. Am surprised that Greenwald didn’t depart The Intercept even earlier!

**Edited to correct how I reached the article.**

391

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 7:30:25pm

Looks like I’m going to possibly have a visitor for Labor Day weekend. That could be pleasant! Positive waves, peeps, positive waves ;)

392

Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo Aug 15, 2021 • 7:31:44pm

Heart breaking: Long string, much more. This is an indictment.

parents had not forbidden us from intubating her. A free vaccination would have prevented it all! This little girl was robbed of her whole life and of fulfilling all of her dreams. She had been with us 9 days and was able to communicate well until taking a turn for the worse

— Jessica M. MSN, FNP-C (@Jessicam6946) August 14, 2021

393

I Would Prefer Not To Aug 15, 2021 • 7:33:56pm

The news is depressing the hell out of me.

394

Eclectic Cyborg Aug 15, 2021 • 7:35:16pm

re: #393 I Would Prefer Not To

The news is depressing the hell out of me.

Same. Big same.

395

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:36:34pm

Just waiting for Rafael and Cornholio to defend their NO votes on the infrastructure package while Governor Hot Wheels is into water sports…

396

Dave In Austin Aug 15, 2021 • 7:36:41pm

This is the time to ask your favorite Trumper: Hey! Who won the 2020 Presidential Election?

397

JC1 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:37:23pm

re: #392 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo

Heart breaking: Long string, much more. This is an indictment.

[Embedded content]

I’m honestly skeptical of this story. A doctor has a duty to override the wishes of a parent in order to save a minor. I don’t think we’re getting the full story here.

398

Sherlock Hound Aug 15, 2021 • 7:37:28pm

re: #386 JOE 🥓

The only one missing is Shaun King.

399

gocart mozart Aug 15, 2021 • 7:37:57pm

This band played at the house I used to live in (off UConn campus 1990) Five guys, two dogs, good times.

Bud Collins Trio - The Last Thing Ever

400

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:39:09pm

re: #398 Sherlock Hound

The only one missing is Shaun King.

Snow White just didn’t forget Martin Luther Cream!

She forgot Glenn Greenwald and Michael Tracey, too!

401

Sherlock Hound Aug 15, 2021 • 7:40:30pm

re: #400 JOE 🥓

Snow White just didn’t forget Martin Luther Cream!

She forgot Glenn Greenwald and Michael Tracey, too!

Don’t worry. They’ll tag along before too long.

402

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:41:03pm

re: #401 Sherlock Hound

Don’t worry. They’ll tag along before too long.

Nina Turner is still sulking in the corner…

403

JOE 🥓 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:45:37pm

This freak doesn’t know when to stop.

‘Lin Wood is disgusting’: Trump-loving attorney spreads anti-hospital conspiracies as GOP activist battles COVID-19

Pressley Stutts, a Greenville County Republican Party leader, announced Friday that he was going on a ventilator after his oxygen levels dropped precipitously, and he asked for prayers as he battled for his life against the potentially deadly virus, reported FITSNews.

On Sunday, as Stutts was hospitalized on a ventilator, Wood accused his doctors and medical staff of ignoring the wishes of his family and legal counsel in a post on the right-wing Telegram platform.

“He knew the risk,” one friend told the website. “He put on Facebook he agreed he needed to go (on) the ventilator. He told me if he didn’t he would have a heart attack. This is truly heartbreaking.”

“Lin Wood is disgusting,” the friend added.

rawstory.com

404

I Would Prefer Not To Aug 15, 2021 • 7:45:39pm

re: #394 Eclectic Cyborg

Same. Big same.

I’m going to log off and work on something that gives my joy. Writing (a short story and perhaps some standup).

I will be back in the AM.

Peace.

405

William Lewis Aug 15, 2021 • 7:51:50pm

re: #392 Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo

Heart breaking: Long string, much more. This is an indictment.

I saw that earlier. That should be criminal child abuse &, at minimum, negligent homicide charges.

406

Anymouse 🌹🏡😷 Aug 15, 2021 • 7:57:12pm

re: #397 JC1

I’m honestly skeptical of this story. A doctor has a duty to override the wishes of a parent in order to save a minor. I don’t think we’re getting the full story here.

Only with a court order in some places.

That’s why Christians can refuse blood transfusions or other sorts of life saving care for their children.

In fact, the GOP in Florida is advancing a bill right now to prohibit all care to a child without positive parental consent. If a child is injured away from her parents, too bad for you.

A bill nearing law in Florida would make it criminal for a doctor or trained medical professional to step in and help an underaged child in an emergency without parental consent.

That means if your child is in a life-threatening medical situation and you’re not around, a doctor wouldn’t be allowed to step in and save your child.

Doctors would have to break their oath or break the law, according to the Florida Medical Association and eight other professional organizations.

They fear the so-called “Parents’ Bill of Rights” (HB 241) will stop doctors and nurses from taking lifesaving actions outside an emergency room. If they do, they would face a first-degree misdemeanor.

Kids in sports play hard and they can get hurt - sometimes seriously - so what happens if you’re not there? Right now, a doctor or nurse who happens to be there can treat your child, but medical experts believe that would change if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs what lawmakers call the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”

(more)

Denying medical care to children falls under genocide statutes. The GOP in Florida will not be satisfied just with killing children with Covid-19.

Under proposed law, no emergency care for kids without parental consent (WINK-TV, Ft. Meyers, CBS)

407

The Ghost of a Flea Aug 15, 2021 • 8:04:30pm

re: #406 Anymouse 🌹🏡😷

I’ve been in a deep dive on materials about the troubled teen industry and…man, Americans have deep convictions about children being the property of their parents.

408

Shiplord Kirel: Fan of USPS, Goodyear, and Oreo Aug 15, 2021 • 8:12:23pm

re: #397 JC1

I’m honestly skeptical of this story. A doctor has a duty to override the wishes of a parent in order to save a minor. I don’t think we’re getting the full story here.

This woman is a nurse. Overruling the parents under the parens patriae doctrine would require timely action by the attending physician and the hospital administration. In cases of immediate harm, a court order is not required but there can still be a considerable delay, maybe too long in this case. There might also be delays related to administrative concerns about liability.

409

sagehen Aug 15, 2021 • 8:38:50pm

re: #310 teleskiguy

1 February 2021

Some people have the memory of a chipmunk.

Excuse me, but chipmunks remember where they left the acorns.

Perhaps you meant the memory of a goldfish?

Spy Auto

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