Open Thread - 13 November 2016

My regiment before I went to SF.  I like the shirt.  pl

Comments

[turcopolier]

All

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

pl

[Aka]

all,
About the election, Clinton campaign seems to be blaming everyone but themselves. Special attention is given to the FBI director James Comey.

And James Comey has one interesting past getting involved with many controversial and tough decisions throughout his carrier.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Comey investigated a Clinton (Marc Rich investigation and pardon investigation) and made critical statement about it.

And when you consider his "fights" with Bush administration over wiretaps, firing of US attorneys, etc. , this guy is has been atypical of the DC's appointed bureaucrats.

[Will2.718]

wikipedia translates the Latin motto as "touch me not." But shouldn't it be same as the Gadsden flag: "Don't tread on me." Also the motto of the 3rd regiment, i see. The wiki article says the better translation of its meaning b/n the encounter of Jesus and Mary Magdelene is "Don't Cling to me."

[HawkOfMay]

The 'all clear' statement by Comey on the Sunday before the election did not help the Clinton campaign. The news continued to be about Clinton and her e-mails rather than anything else. Instead of attacking Trump; the news was Clinton (to paraphrase) saying 'See, nothing new in these Weiner e-mails'. The last association you would want in voters minds the day before the election is Weiner and Clinton e-mails. Trump has demonstrated that the ability to dominate air time is an important campaign consideration.

To be clear, I believe Clinton has the majority of the blame for losing the election. If she had listened to (Lanny Davis? Amazon Link: Crisis Tales) to get every possible e-mail out to the public as soon as possible instead of stonewalling; the election may have turned out differently.

[steve]

Comey sounds like a straight-shooter. His going public 10 days before the election was the right thing to do. Clinton put herself in that position, not Comey. That said, I assume he will be out when Trump takes office.

[turcopolier]

will2.718

I suppose the regiment's most signal achievement was the seizure of the City of Metz in August, 1944. pl

[Jack]

Hilarious watching and reading pundits who got election completely wrong now knowing with authority what Trump and the Republican majority in Congress will do.

[Degringolade]

My leg unit....my last six months in the army. Truth be told, it is the one I miss the most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41st_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Martin Armstrong found some provocative things while searching through Wikileaks DNC emails:
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/north_america/2016-u-s-presidential-election/the-real-clinton-conspiracy-that-backfired-the-worst-candiate-in-american-history/

And for the amusement or perhaps infuriation of Hilary supporters here's Jonathan Pye's assessment in a six minute video from across the pond of why she lost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLG9g7BcjKs

[BraveNewWorld]

Looks like the great Russian shock and awe kicks off at midnight in East Aleppo. Not just the naval forces but long range bombers out of Russia are to be deployed.

Also of interest is reports of an A-10 and F-15 doing recce in Idlib. That certainly has the feel of the Pentagon following their new orders.

Interesting times in the near future.

[Haralambos]

With all due respect, I think this is the Latin verb form: tangō, tangĕre, tetīgī, tactum. Several meanings are often given. My Latin-English dictionary from 50 years ago gives these translations among others; these seem to fit for me: touch, handle, meddle with. I would add in more colloquial English, mess with and f**k with, the final two in a military context fit but do not convey the dignity of the use of classical Latin.

The Latin tangō (handle) is the obvious source of the dance name in modern languages.

[English Outsider]

All we civilians had more or less a service component in our background, up until around the time of the Falklands. I can think of no older relatives who hadn't put some time in during the major wars, and there were still plenty of people around who'd done National Service.

That started to change in the 80's, as also did the attitude towards the Forces. Perhaps the Falklands marked the turning point in both respects. It was the last time the nation watched heart in mouth as the troops set off, knew what they were about and approved of it, and welcomed them back as heroes. Little spin needed to sell it to us, a minimum of PR, and although the politicians might have screwed up beforehand - when do they not? - the cause itself was plainly just. Even the BBC eventually gave it their grudging approval, and that was in the days before it lost its independence.

Perhaps not quite the whole nation. It was around that time, or so it was in my experience, that the very notion of having a country, and therefore having armed forces to defend it, became suspect. More so as time went on. Today the default position for any fully paid-up progressive is open borders or none, and if there are no borders what need to defend them? The armed forces can remain as a useful workforce for emergencies, or for deployment whenever some errant country is marked down for some accelerated Freedom and Democracy.

And if anything were to get really serious, there are always the Americans.

The more realistic of our political classes, especially those who can't afford the luxury of surrendering entirely to the progressive dream because they've got a country to run, do take defence seriously. Very seriously indeed, because it's the devil of a job finding where to make the cuts. The less well-instructed of their subjects - aren't some of them called deplorables or suchlike now in the States? - look on anxiously and wonder what happened to full spectrum defence; and wonder too if an alliance that includes among its stalwarts Eastern Europeans who have more Russophobia than punch, French who need their army to keep the natives in order further South, and Germans who are reputed to drill with broomsticks, is quite the bulwark it's made out to be.

But they don't have to worry either because if anything were to go wrong, there are always the Americans.

Just so long as someone's told Mr Trump.

[Jack]

The Democrats need to reflect on why their supposed sure thing gender identity candidate significantly under-performed Obama. She got millions of votes less than what Obama received.

[Laguerre]

The Latin genuinely means "don't touch me", but I think it should be 'Nole'.

[Laguerre]

We have yet to see what Trump will do in Syria. One report though talks about collapse of morale of al-Qa'ida after his election. I don't believe it, but the perception may play a role in the resistance.

[Sam Peralta]

He will only take office on January 20th.

[BraveNewWorld]

The big question right now is what signals are they getting from Qatar, KSA and Turkey. If it is business as usual then this then this still has a long road ahead. If on the other hand the US has sent the word to knock it off then that combined with the actions over the next week could see things accelerate quite quickly. It will be even quicker if the US, UK and France have stopped providing intel to AQ and friends.

[Earthrise]

“There has been an awakening, have you felt it?” TFA

I can’t believe how much my worldview has shifted over the last year. Hailing from the far Left, I have felt the pull of History in a new direction. I have become a critic of the social engineering that has been carried out since the 60’s; it has gone too far. Because of this over-reach, I have had to shift to defending the foundations of our society; community and family. On the hand, I will always be proud to have stood against the Empire and the ruling class Capitalists. The Right was very happy to stay quiet while the Financial-Military Empire raped the world, and we always told you these chickens would come home to roost. But now that they have, it is time to call a truce.

I propose that we call a halt to the Culture Wars; this is the area where the Left is winning. I think we need to pause to assess the damage of this 50-year project anyway; the baby has almost been washed out of the bath. Then the patriotic Left (the anti-imperial/capitalist faction) and the Right can join against our common enemy. The division over social issues has been exploited by our enemy to prevent us joining on the political front. This must end, time for all People to come together against the evil which rules our world.

The momentum is with the Right, so I am coming over to join my brothers and sisters to fight our common enemy. I am worried about playing with Nationalism, it has a very bloody history, and will put a lot of pressure on our minorities. They will try and turn our nationalism outwards, towards a fake external enemy. The enemy is inside the gates. If we all stand together and maintain our focus, there is nothing they can do.

I am going to keep asking everybody to stop falling into the Left-Right trap. The patriotic-national Left and Right need to join, and anyone pushing social change during this war needs to see they are aiding the enemy. Once we are free, we can address the remaining social issues. A truce then, and all patriots rally to the banner.

[aleksandar]

If you add up this election
+ the failed offensive to break the East Aleppo siege
+ East and West Goutha pocket collapse
+ the magnificent resistance of Deir e Zor
+ the lost of Yarmouk CAmp
+ the destruction of supply line by Rusaf and Syraf
Well, you have the complete picture.
I would have a low morale if I was a jihadist !

[Will2.718]

Always felt cheated from a classical languages education. Had one day of Latin in the eight grade, and then they cancelled the class. Took one semester of Latin I, freshman year in college. All I remember from it is the correct classical (not church) Latin pronunciation of 'Julius Caesar' and the term 'Persicos' which I throw around in here periodically to impress probably nobody b/ myself. Wanted to take new testament greek and akkadian b/ got talked out of it. I was premed and had a full plate.

Anyway, envy those that know their Latin and Greek. Trying to learn Spanish now w/ the iPhone app duolingo.

[Will2.718]

Ahh, b/ is it Маскировка and the real target is something else?

[Chris Chuba]

Is there a Purple Revolution in the U.S.?
(Paul Craig Roberts noticed Hillary's choice of color in her concession speech)

In Eastern Europe, western money poured in, frequently post election, changing govts in Yugoslovia, Georgia, Ukraine, ...

There seems to be a similar pattern here...
http://journal-neo.org/2016/11/12/is-obama-staging-a-color-revolution-in-the-us-2/

The article proposes that the protesters will demand that the Electoral College certify the vote based on the popular and not the state by state winner take all result.
Is this crazy? Yes. Is it impossible? no. The protesters would have to get some legitimacy from the MSM, like the NYT trotting out legal scholars and law professors arguing that this would be Constitutional.

1. Technically the Electoral College is free to vote for whomever they deem appropriate. Arguing that they choose the popular winner is wrong because the turnout would have been different if this was a direct vote. Undoubtedly, there were people in California who didn't bother to vote because it was futile.

2. There is definitely an organized element to these protests. Yes, there are the Snowflakes but there are craigslist listings for rent-a-protester. There was also that unfortunate and bizarre shooting of a protester in Portland reminiscent of Maidan.

3. The demands of the protesters are remarkably consistent, 'Trump is not my President, we want Hillary!'. Contrary to what the MSM is saying, the protesters do have a goal.

4. Is the popular vote result being rigged? I find it suspicious that Hillary's popular vote margin is increasing as more votes are being tallied. These are not being watched carefully because no one is disputing Trump's electoral win but this could be used as a basis for the Purple Revolution.

The lack of familiarity of color revolutions within the U.S. is making most here oblivious to this scenario, just like the politicians in Eastern Europe were but maybe, just maybe, we will find out just how quickly a color revolution can sneak up on a slumbering public.

The final question, would Hillary accept the Presidency under such circumstances? [after me laughing for 15 minutes] as they say, in a New York minute, yes. I think that there would be some irony if we experienced what the Russians and other countries have been subjected to from our NGO's. I strongly doubt this will actually happen because our institutions have been in place for over 200yrs but I cannot but help see the similarities and the irony if even some of this happened. I have also noticed how some MSM hosts resent the sponsoring of these protests. Why do these same MSM hosts think favorably about Soros and others 'spreading democracy' in Eastern Europe? Think of how fragile those places are since they do not have the same institutional strength that we have.

[Babak Makkinejad]

You wrote:

"...that the very notion of having a country, and therefore having armed forces to defend it, became suspect..."

Surely this sentiment would be confined largely to the more posh people in the London area, yes?

[Mishkilji]

Who, exactly, is the enemy?

[SAC Brat]

Thanks for calling it out. At this point we have many media folk's baseball cards. Not looking so good.

"Build a thousand bridges... get in the bag for one election for Clinton..."