"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/21/2018 at 12:00 • Filed to: None
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"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
11/21/2018 at 12:00 • Filed to: None | 0
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Here is an analysis from The Atlantic Magazine of President Trump’s bromance with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia . I find the writing and the analysis very satisfying in its thoughtfulness and, well, literacy . I would like to know your thoughts about the commentary here.
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Azrek
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/21/2018 at 12:22 |
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I generally look at this the other way sometimes. Folks are shocked and confused about why we are still polite with Saudi over this, but should folks be shocked and confused why countries are still friendly with us after the Iraq Tortures, Intel documents leaking on foreign leaders and other odd situations?
We aren’t above other countries in sins or nefarious acts. I am not sure what we could even do when another country wants to act on this type of thing or the other dozen or so folks who had their heads chopped off lately in Riyadh.
It sucks...but Saudi just recently was the last country to allow women to drive. They aren’t exactly a modern country in terms of human rights.
3point8isgreat
> Azrek
11/21/2018 at 12:33 |
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I would say that yes, people should be shoc ked and confused about why other countries are still friendly with us. But I’m just bitter about a lot of things.
Future next gen S2000 owner
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/21/2018 at 12:38 |
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Nothing is ever as it seems.
The moment you think you got it figured, you ain’ t.
- The S
hooter, that one old guy with the glasses.
Nick Has an Exocet
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/21/2018 at 12:43 |
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While it’s certainly not an excuse for their human rights issues, the Saudi’s are who they are. They’ve not just been a friend of this president, but I seem to remember the last one calling them “special friends” and “our greatest ally”. The middle east is a complex place. Strictly speaking without political bias, we need all the friends we can get there. Even weird ones.
There’s one thing I’ve learned over the last 4 -5 years about the middle east: There are some VERY smart people over there. You simply can’t ignore them and expect them to leave you alone. They want to do business and they want to impose their culture - both the same way we do.
fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/21/2018 at 12:48 |
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I’ve thought it is mostly as simple as 45 wants to be him (MbS), just like he wants to be Putin or Lil Kim or Jinping or Duterte etc. Economics are a slight part of it, but also a great excuse. I suspect some shady financial dealings are present between those royals and the American royals as well. Protect both your friends and the strongmen you’d love to emulate.
Nice line from the article, sums up a lot related to the WH over the past couple years:
“what Trump says is not entirely wrong, although he exaggerates well past the point of dishonesty”
atfsgeoff
> Future next gen S2000 owner
11/21/2018 at 13:23 |
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I love that old guy from Shooter. Best 10 minutes of the movie right there.
Whoever took that shot’s probably dead now, that’s how a conspiracy works! Them boys on the grassy knoll? They were dead within 3 hours, buried in the damn desert, unmarked graves, out past Terlingua.
-And you know this for a fact?
Still got the shovel!
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Future next gen S2000 owner
> atfsgeoff
11/21/2018 at 13:24 |
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Yep.
DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever
> Azrek
11/21/2018 at 13:33 |
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Saudi likes us because they
want us to stick around in case Iran does anything funny in the Persian Gulf, like in the 80's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis
PyramidHat
> Azrek
11/21/2018 at 14:02 |
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Aye, but this doesn’t play into our jingoistic, self important, American Exceptionalism narrative...
ZHP Sparky, the 5th
> PyramidHat
11/21/2018 at 14:22 |
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This is exactly the problem I have with all these. We gotta either decide that yeah we’re as sketchy and immoral as the rest of them and stop with this American Exceptionalism (TM), or actually stick to those supposed principles we preach to the rest of the world about.
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Azrek
> ZHP Sparky, the 5th
11/21/2018 at 14:29 |
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My point exactly...Cheers
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PyramidHat
> ZHP Sparky, the 5th
11/21/2018 at 15:24 |
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I’m not sure if we lost our moral high ground as a country, or if we never really had it to begin with...
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ZHP Sparky, the 5th
> PyramidHat
11/21/2018 at 15:49 |
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I think it has always been lacking compared to how highly we wore it. But now with Trump there no longer is even any attempt to appear to stake a moral high ground. As many have already pointed out, everything is transactional to him, and dollars and cents is the only way he knows how to measure anything given that he has no moral compass to go by.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/21/2018 at 22:55 |
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https://www.npr.org/podcasts/551791730/stay-tuned-with-preet
I was listening to this, this morning, and now I filter it through any news I hear. 1, its all about him, 2) its all about the fight, 3) he has no care for tomorrow or any long term planning. .
Trump through jared, outsourced US foreign policy to Saudi Arabia for the short term to turn the screws on the Iran. With Iran ian oil sanctions the market is more sensative to any future cuts.
“ President Donald Trump threatened his most important Arab ally with “severe punishment” if it was shown to have killed a top regime critic. Saudi Arabia hit back with a not-so-veiled threat of its own to weaponize its vast oil exports.”:
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/22/2018 at 00:55 |
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Trump seems to be fully unleashed now.
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gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
11/22/2018 at 01:05 |
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I’ll be surprised if Mattis lasts through to teh New Year
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/22/2018 at 10:46 |
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I’m surprised John Kelly hasn’t told President Trump to pack sand up his ass. Or maybe he has.
Ironically, we see President Trump and his administration to be one of the most transparent of all time.
On NPR yesterday, a commentator said that narcissists will select loyalty over expertise.
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
11/22/2018 at 10:48 |
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What I have to wonder is if you look at the US/Saudi relationships and arrangements a year from now or two years, would they look any different than they would if some other administration were currently in power. You’d have much more hand wringing and lip service given to human rights and freedom of the press, but in the end, would the outcome be much different?