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Thursday, November 19, 2015

After Paris, the Nation is Being Tested; Will We Fail Again?

I guess right now I'm in the minority. There are these polls that show that Americans want to clamp down on refugees from Syria, they believe the President's ISIS strategy somehow isn't working and somehow the pollsters have managed to cull the response that people want us to send in ground troops to Syria.

While I would like to mock Jeb Bush for calling for ground troops in Syria, the sad truth is that this poll at least says Americans agree with him. Though we will see if this view really holds. I think polls can get some very elastic responses from people depending on how the question is framed.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/18/jeb-bush-calls-for-global-coalition-and-u-s-ground-troops-to-fight-isis/

We've had saturation coverage of Paris for four days and counting. We'll see if this continues post the immediate blitz of coverage.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/11/why-presidents-tone-is-right.html

I am also in the minority in that I like the President's tone. But a lot of people seem to want breastbeating. They want to see some sea change in current policy. The knee jerk reaction is for some dramatic response. There's no value in acting for the sake of action,

They don't like his cool, rational demeanor. But we need a cool head more now than ever. Instead he's supposed to play to their fears and make wild statements and do something for the sake of doing it whether or not it helps or is even counterproductive.

It's just sad after all the years of criticizing the Bush years that people seem to want to return to them at the first sight of trouble. This is what Right wing parties the world over live for. They love these sorts of environments where people 'just want to feel safe.'

ISIS wants us to be afraid. This is how ISIS motivates their followers and they hope we react this way too. Yesterday they put out a video of hitting NY City. As a New Yorker this hits close to home. But the point is they are trying to manipulate American public opinion.

They hope that Spirit of George W. Bush wins, not that of Barrack Obama.

"The West Is Giving ISIS Exactly What It Wants  Unfortunately, conservatives in the U.S. and Europe seem to want to do all the wrong things."

"Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have responded to Friday’s terror attacks in Paris bycalling to close their countries’ doors to Syrian refugees and framing the fight against the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, as a “clash of civilizations.”"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/islamic-state-terrorism-response_564b7434e4b08cda348af834?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000090

As this piece from Huff Po argues ISIS would love to see us curtail the refugees. 

The Islamic State has been very disappointed by the flow of refugees to Europe, because it undermines the narrative that the group provides a safe haven for global Muslims.
In this way, the efforts by some European nations to accommodate Syrian refugees have helped to bridge some of the perceived divide between the West and the Muslim world that Swift describes.
“The reality is, The Islamic State (IS) loathes that individuals are fleeing Syria for Europe,”wrote Aaron Zelin, an expert on jihadist groups. “It undermines IS’ message that its self-styled Caliphate is a refuge, because if it was, individuals would actually go there in droves since it’s so close instead of ... risking their lives through arduous journeys that could lead to death en route to Europe.” 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/islamic-state-terrorism-response_564b7434e4b08cda348af834?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000090
You have GOPers running for President, in Congress, Governors all making wild statements. They are pushing the most base form of Islamophobia. 
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/11/republicans_don_t_want_syrian_muslims_in_america_gop_leaders_can_only_agree.html
But you also have a Democratic mayor in Virginia doing what I've never heard anyone do before-make a positive reference to the Japanese internment camps. 
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/260635-dem-mayor-cites-japanese-internment-camps-in-refusing-syrian
This gives you a little idea of politics in Virginia right now. And there are a number of Democrats in Congress who are suggesting openness to the GOP anti refugee bill. 
"President Barack Obama’s Syrian refugee program is driving a wedge through the Democratic Party, pitting liberal stalwarts against nervous Senate candidates and some senior lawmakers."

"With the White House scrambling to defend its resettlement program and Republicans pressing to “pause” or even eliminate it, liberals were alarmed earlier this week when third-ranking Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York expressed openness to a time-out on resettling Syrian refugees. Meanwhile, Democrats battling in competitive races from Ohio to New Hampshire to Nevada are voicing concerns with the vetting process for refugees fleeing Syria, a nation millions have left since a civil war began four years ago."

"New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is challenging Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) in her bid for reelection, urged the federal government to stop accepting Syrian refugees until the process is reviewed. Nevada Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto wants U.S. intelligence officials to sign off on the vetting process before admitting more refugees. And former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, aiming to unseat GOP Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio, joined the chorus Tuesday, calling for a “short-term pause” in the resettlement program."

"But those responses have triggered strong blowback from liberal Democrats and advocacy groups. They’re exerting tremendous pressure on lawmakers to reject any measure that would further tie the Obama administration’s hands when it comes to accepting more refugees from abroad."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/syrian-refugees-democrats-paris-216032#ixzz3rvj1ux8B

Chuck Schumer is Harry Reid's presumed successor. It is not welcome to see him respond this way. As a New Yorker maybe I should call him today and let him know, it's not the job of Democrats to join in and promote fear.






8 comments:

  1. This is why I have little confidence in the American voter. Just look at the entertainment they like. Lol.

    "They don't like his cool, rational demeanor. But we need a cool head more now than ever."

    I like the cool demeanor too!

    Rush Limbaugh decades ago (and probably still) used to talk about liberals being the party of emotions and emotionalism rather than logic and thinking. He has a point in some cases, but I think conservatives are FAR more reliant on anti-rational emotionalism... the worst kind of emotionalism... not compassion, but fear and hatred and paranoia.

    Take a look at this disgusting RedState article by Erick Erickson (just the title and 1st couple of sentences in sufficient):
    http://www.redstate.com/2015/11/19/the-american-left-hates-americans-more-than-they-hate-isis/

    It makes zero sense. Zero! It's all emotionalism. He's saying, yes, these evangelicals who are pro-refugee have an argument, but not Obama? Why because Obama didn't invoke an invisible sky fairy when he argued that American values dictate that we do what's compassionate?

    Listen to how offended he is that people can have an opinion against the mob... that they must HATE "the people" if they do. No, I can understand why "the people" are influenced by blowhards like him, but I don't HATE them for it! What a complete ass.

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  2. But I'm impatient with people as well who are so easily conned.

    By the way Tom, with all we've talked about being reality-based, here is a gem I remembered from the Bush years. When the W people said 'We make our own reality now, we're an empire.'

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community

    They were dismissive about the folks in the 'reality based community'

    This is why Stephen Colbert's send up of W at that Correspondence Dinner was so spot on.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X93u3anTco

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    1. I forgot about that Reality based community comment.

      Colbert's send up was classic. Colbert seems strangely more confident in his fake skin than he does in his own (I'm thinking his new show). His balls seem twice as big when he's fake Steven.

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    2. Yes. I've said all along that he is just funnier as fake Steven than himself. Satire not reality is his thing! LOL

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  3. BTW, Ben Carson's fucked up US map is getting a lot more press than I would have expected. I guess that's fortunate, but it'll be ironic if that becomes a major factor in why his campaign falls apart. WTF? This CANDIDATE has been saying nutty nonsense for months if not years if not decades now, and suddenly the botched map his CAMPAIGN (not necessarily him) briefly put out is major news? Damn. Now, what the press latches onto isn't necessarily what the public is thinking, but these stories must float up to the top of the pile in the Google news feed for a reason, right? I certainly clicked on that one right away. So funny. Does this inspire confidence in the American hive mind (electorate)?

    What if Hillary's campaign were to briefly put out a botched map? Would that disqualify her?

    Maybe I'm reading too much into it... maybe this was primed to be a big story BECAUSE of all the insanity that preceded it, and this just served as a tidy symbol of all that. I don't know.

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  4. I'm always skeptical about this or that thing is gong to be the end of Carson/Trump. They have they have shown that a lot of the old rules don't apply to them.

    What I have noticed, though, is that the last few polls seem to show Carson losing some steam and Trump gaining some of that.

    So some of this stuff collectively might be hurting him. Last week they were saying that Trump would be in trouble because of the stuff he said about Carson-even if it were all true.

    That conventional wisdom is being proven wrong. So it looks to me like Carson may be losing steam. though we'll need to see a few more polls to say anything conclusive

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    1. I agree about needing polls... but I'm just surprised at the coverage of this one screw up. To me it's the least nutty thing about his campaign so far (of the many many nutty things).

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  5. To me so many crazy things have come of of Carson World it's tough to even measure if this is crazy or less crazy.

    I do wonder where they got that screwed up map from. I mean how hard is it to find a correct map? It seems harder to make up a wrong one. I don't get how it happened.

    The Lord moves in mysterious ways. And then there's Ben Carson

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