People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows -- US Politics September 2020

well i dunno, this similar accusation, but with more evidence to back it up, almost certainly lost him the election in 2016

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/gold-star-families-attack-trump-over-comments-about-ghazala-khan-n620671

that Atlantic article by Goldberg is otm

it’s always important to milo that the democrat is the most wrong person

It’s unfortunate that you missed the day in school where they taught the meaning of “also.”

still infuriating that shit like this would instantly end the career of literally any politician in the country except for the goddamn president

It would be okay if it normalized not genuflecting toward the troops.

it’s important to milo that people don’t forget troops are actually bad not good

actually, that IS important tbf

One need only look at the military to cop pipeline to see that.

I think it's maybe possibly possible (just maybe) to curb uncritical over-veneration of the armed forces without calling POWs and veterans losers. Possibly. Just imagine.

Without veterans, how would we staff CrossFit gyms and domestic spying operations?!

The systemic overfunding of troop activities and troop-adjacent programs is probably suboptimal.
Troops themselves are just young people, often disadvantaged, looking for a steady career. They work hard and sometimes they get hurt bad or die.

everything and everyone is bad.
lock thread.
nuke forum.
walk away.

Nothing will happen to him. He got away with McCain, the purple heart thing, bone spurs... he could piss in Arlington cemetery and not dip in the polls.

it’s important to milo to treat vets with the same level of respect that trump does

who among us hasn't taken a leak there. sometimes a slurpee has to re-emerge

I think it's maybe possibly possible (just maybe) to curb uncritical over-veneration of the armed forces without calling POWs and veterans losers. Possibly. Just imagine.

Probably! And if one was a politician or adjacent, it would be important to do so. Messaging and all that.

That doesn't describe anyone itt, though.

I'm a politician

sadly I got primaried by a more evolved being

Some of us have relatives buried in military cemeteries, you fucking asshole.

So do I.

If that's going to be the boundaries of acceptable opinion, though, shit's gonna get weird when we start accounting for people with beloved cop uncles and Republican grandpas.

when 18, 19 year-olds who are disproportionately poor and brown die because they joined the military, that to me is good, because I am very wise.

'The military' contains multitudes, from purely amazing and admirable people to some of the worst assholes you can imagine. The USA's big military problem is funding every big, shiny weapon system the DoD asks for and they will never, ever stop asking for whizzier gadgets. The consequence is we get troop carriers that can go 70 mph over rough terrain, do backflips, shoot 10,000 bullets a second, cost $50 million each and can be blown up by an IED rigged from an old artillery shell and a cell phone. And the troop carrier doesn't even have AC.

when 18, 19 year-olds who are disproportionately poor and brown die because they joined the military, that to me is good, because I am very wise.

This is a myth IIRC - the military is disproportionately middle-class. The poor are under-represented and the ethnic makeup isn't much different from the country as a whole.

I don't think anyone wished death on them, though?

‘Who gives a shit’ is pretty different from that actively wishing death IMO. Veterans took a job with pretty sweet benefits, end of story, end of the extent we should care about them.

Like, meatpackers play an actual important role in American society and have never committed war crimes.

anyway, let's enjoy the big fella grouse about paper straws (so 2018!) and marvel as his steel trap mind recalls the names of fast food restaurants

TRUMP: "They want to ban straws. Has anybody ever tried those paper straws? They are not working too good. Right? I said, I have had a couple meals at McDonald's, etc, over the years. Wendy's. A friend of mine owns Wendy's, I will give it a plug. Right? Burger King." pic.twitter.com/0lNygt7oHM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 3, 2020

fuck him, paper straws are awesome

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military

Most services (the big ones) are less white than the gen pop and “middle class” is a broad term.

If that's going to be the boundaries of acceptable opinion, though, shit's gonna get weird when we start accounting for people with beloved cop uncles and Republican grandpas.

― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z)

I'm not sure what this means

I'm not sure what this means

'I have family who were veterans how dare you not be nice about them' is just as applicable to uncle-cops (as we've literally seen on ILX) and Republican grandpas?

The same as well with using demographics as a trump card - the NYPD and LAPD are majority-minority. But you know, fuck 'em.

Grffivfcgjbfgddtvkikoojgddgsfvujvvdtgjnholbpppgcssaewcghbfft

here are the boundaries of acceptable opinion afaics. when you find that certain opinions are 'unacceptable' please feel free to tell all ILX that you disagree with them, but there are boundaries on how disagreeable you may be in expressing this. DJP is aware of this and stays in bounds.

Grffivfcgjbfgddtvkikoojgddgsfvujvvdtgjnholbpppgcssaewcghbfft

― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Thursday, September 3, 2020 8:20 PM bookmarkflaglink

-Ronald Reagan, Iran Contra trial

I always imagine milo typing these not so deep thoughts sitting on his tailgate, eating a sandwich. Why do i think this???

He should try a California burrito instead.

-Ronald Reagan, Iran Contra trial

― Neanderthal, Thursday, September 3, 2020

I've listened to the hours of Reagan testimony on YouTube; that's what it sounds like

xp Vile

Look I have a full bladder and live near a civil war cemetery—somebody’s grandpa is getting pissed on

somebody’s grandpa is getting pissed on

That's OK. It's safe to say all the grandchildren of civil war vets are dead, too. You wanna talk about someone's great-great-great-grandpa, then you're back in the land of the living for sure.

Aimless, I believe there are people still collecting Civil War spousal benefits.

Also, I will honestly say that I don't understand how someone could lack both empathy, nuance, and class analysis as much as Milo does upthread.

Nuance and class analysis being one thing, obviously (lol, whatever I hope he gets banned).

I have no idea what you think I said but "without veterans, how would we staff CrossFit gyms and domestic spying operations?!" is not exactly wishing ill on anyone AFAICT.

And lol "class analysis" only if you buy into the mythology of the military. Troops are not some poor downtrodden group forced into waging war with no other choice. They're an all-volunteer force of primarily middle-class people who use it as a alternative route to prosperity. It's a job, just like being a cop and no more worthy of respect or adulation for it.

You're doing the thing you do often in these threads where you shift the goalposts wildly to serve whatever point you're making right now while pretending you didn't make a different point earlier. To hearken back: a link was posted to a story about Trump saying disgusting shit about military veterans and POWs, followed by this exchange

still infuriating that shit like this would instantly end the career of literally any politician in the country except for the goddamn president

― frogbs, Thursday, September 3, 2020 5:47 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

It would be okay if it normalized not genuflecting toward the troops.

― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Thursday, September 3, 2020 5:49 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Which seemed to indicate that you felt Trump's means justify the theoretical end of troop veneration. So hopefully you see why people might take issue with that, regardless of what direction you try to steer the conversation afterwards.

Looking at the numbers, your analysis is shit, since the class numbers available are based on neighborhood income levels rather than individual household levels and also in today's day and age, 53,000/year is middle class in maybe like 5-8 states where the cost of living is low af. I've known a lot of vets (through IVAW and other groups), and all of them grew up in trailers or in the barrio, and all of them got royally fucked in the head and heart and body by the US military apparatus.

If you aren't on the side of people who are being used as cannon fodder by an imperialist government, and instead are throwing potential allies in class struggle out with the MIC, then your ideology is shit and you are shit

If you voluntarily join an organisation whose primary purpose is killing people, and which has a massive and obvious history of war crimes, then whatever your socioeconimic or educational or age-related reasons, I feel pretty free to judge you and find you wanting.

Ah yes, because every kid grows up knowing about US war crimes and is desperate to pull a Lynndie on some hogtied Iraqi. Gtfoh

ILX is definitely not known for offhand sarcasm - as I would hope most people not looking for offense could tell since it was a response to frogbs's "end the career" post, which was specifically about how Trump is immune to the standard rules of proper behavior.

Would you like a full paragraph instead of a one-liner? I don't care what Trump did or didn't say, he's a monster and anything he said rather than did wouldn't hit the top 20 acts of evil he performed that day, but failures of veneration of the troops "end(ing) the career of literally any politician" is fucked up and weird and not something anyone should wish for. The US military is a force for evil, from killing innocent people abroad to draining our finite resources at home and going to work for it does not ennoble anyone.

Tribalism has pushed liberals into good ol' natsec consensus hawkishness on American imperialism around the world and that is ultimately a terrible thing. If Trump being a boor and an oaf got the other side to end their slavish devotion (because of that same tribalism), good - but it won't. Because see above, he's immune to the standard rules of proper behavior.

It's amazing how 6.9 million people turn 18-years old each year and don't sign up to be drone pilots.

No one is forced into the military, we haven't had a draft in almost five decades. It's a choice.

So is posting on here. You could not.

Like if you honestly believe that then you have a warped sense of the limited choices many people have on offer.