From one of our commenters:
Meanwhile in the real world….Israel is assembling troops for a possible ground attack, the fiscal cliff crisis still looms and that pesky Benghazi investigation is heating up. Has DL gone brain dead since the election?
Let’s talk about this one by one.
1. Israel
Israel is assembling troops for a possible ground attack on Gaza, because apparently all the other previous ground attacks on Gaza and aerial bombardments of Gaza have not worked to stop the terrorists, so of course let’s try it again, and kill more innocent Palestinanian civilians in the process, for surely that will calm them all down and not create ever more terrorists.
Someone once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Thus, Israel, or more accurately, the government of Israel, is insane. Yes, they have an equally insane enemy in Hamas and the other affiliated terrorist organizations, but Israel is not an innocent victim in this ongoing saga. Its leadership has promulgated an apartheid state, occupied the West Bank and Gaza for decades, built illegal settlements and thus stole a majority of the land from the Palestinians in the West Bank, and it has acted in bad faith during any and all peace negotiations since 2000, when the last hope for any peace treaty or a two state solution was dashed by both sides.
So, they keep on killing each other, and round and round this carosel goes. But I got off it years ago, and I say now, let them all kill each other. They seem to want to kill each other so much. Let them. So when I see the news that Israel is going to invade Gaza, I yawn. You, Duty, think it is somehow worthy of our discussion. I am not sure why, for all the reasons I cite. All of this has happened before, and it will happen again.
2. The fiscal cliff crisis still looms…
That phrase probably contains more bullshit than Mitt Romney’s magic boxers. First off, it is not a crisis. Second, it is not a cliff. But it is fiscal, and it is looming. And why is the Fiscal… er ah… slope, or curb… looming? Because the Republicans in the House, the Democrats in the Senate, and the President of the United States reached a debt ceiling deal in August 2011 that required a later agreement, to be negotiated between the various sides that would incude at least $1.5 trillion in spending over the coming 10 years. The deadline for that agreement was in November 2011. They failed to reach an agreement, to the surprise of no one. But the Debt Ceiling Deal, or more accurately the Budget Control Act of 2011, provided for a punishment if everyone did not reach a deal: Automatic sequestation, or spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years (2013-2023) to start taking affect on January 1, 2013. The cuts would be across the board, with the one exception of Social Security, and 50% of the cuts must come from the Pentagon, and 50% must come from non-defense programs, including discretionary spending, education, science, transportation and Medicare.
Congress failed to reach an agreement, and the spending cuts, which everyone claims to want anyway, are their punishment. And all this crisis is is Congress, or more accurately, the Republicans in the House, trying to avoid their punishment. In case you have not noticed, I want sequestration to take affect. Congress passed a law and by God, they are going to live with the consequences of that law.
The second part of the “cliff” “crisis” is the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts. That is not a crisis. It is a campaign promise that the overwhelming majority of Americans want to see happen, at least with respect to the top 2%. The worst case scenario is now actually pretty damn good. The tax cuts expire on January 1, and then President Obama and the Democrats in Congress demand that Congress pass the Obama Tax Cuts for the Middle Class immediately. If the Republicans don’t pass it, the people will know who the hell is hurting them: the Republicans. And the GOP will be routed from office in 2014. And in the meantime, we get some serious revenue to close the budget deficit and pay down the debt. If they do pass them, they are the Obama Tax Cuts. Win. Win.
So as you can see, this fiscal “cliff” “crisis” is neither, but it is fiscal. And if Thelma and Louise are unavailable, then I will be happy to take the wheel and drive off it. It is actually the best policy outcome available. So embrace the “cliff.”
3. That pesky Benghazi investigation is heating up….
I think we are now conflating the Generals With Their Pants Down story with Benghazi. I could give two shits about adultery or a sex scandal, unless General Petraeus betrayed this country by revealing classified information or documents while he was getting fellated. So far, that appears to not be the case, thankfully. So there is not there there.
As for Benghazi, yes, the investigation is proceeding, as the President promised, with briefings, both closed and private and open and public (depending on the nature of the testimony, for classified information would have to be testified to in closed briefings). I would have been nice if everyone who is so concerned about the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, and desiring of an investigation to determine what happened and how best can we prevent such future attacks, would attend these briefings, both public and private. One of the Senators so concerned is Senator John McCain. And he sits on the committee that received these very important briefings yesterday. And he saw fit to not only blow off the hearing, but to instead attend a press conference so he could falsely and libelously attack Ambassador Susan Rice and President Obama.
Duty, since you are so concerned about this issue, I expect today that you will immediately call for the resignation of John McCain from the Senate, for he is in dereliction of his duty. If you do not, you, like McCain, are not to be taken seriously with respect to any issue of national security ever again.
So there, I hope I have satisfied you with discussing these oh so very important and substantial issues.
We can go back to being brain dead now.