AMERICAN PARTY DUOPOLY

JIM KAVANAGH—The war in Syria continues; we cannot say it has ended until and unless every US soldier and piece of military hardware leave Syria. The residual military presence that the neocons have persuaded Trump to keep in Syria continues to deny the Syria government full control of its own sovereign territory and maintains redoubts from which the rump US and proxy forces threaten the Syrian government—economically for certain, and potentially militarily.

ROB URIE—This is to suggest that it certainly makes sense that the Russian political leadership would want to keep American militarists, a/k/a the Clintons and their neocon ‘crazies,’ out of White House. But as of now, the evidence is that the Russians changed no votes in the 2016 election. As far as inciting dissent— the charge that protests were organized by Russian ‘interests,’ not only does this reek of prior misdirection by the FBI and CIA, but there is no evidence that any such protests had an impact on the outcome of the 2016 election.

ROB URIE—The clutter of party politics creates differences where there are none, or where they are different than as posed. Prior to being elected president, Barack Obama used the frame of the Washington Consensus to give an ideologically coherent explanation of why he wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare. It is one with the Republican explanation. It ties to his inclusion of neoliberal ‘market mechanisms’ in Obamacare. And it ties to his pivot to cut public expenditures—a.k.a. ‘austerity,’ by early 2010. And it ties to his support for the TPP.

RORY FANNING—Armistice Day was established on November 11, 1919, to commemorate the end of hostilities in World War I. Armistice Day was sacred because it was intended to evoke memories of fear, pain, suffering, military incompetence, greed and destruction on the grandest scale for those who had participated in war, directly and indirectly. Veterans Day, instead of looking toward a future of peace, celebrates war “heroes” and encourages others to dream of playing the hero themselves, covering themselves in valor.

ERIC ZUESSE—It’s said that Trump is causing people outside the U.S. to despise the United States. But Obama was at least as bad, and he is internationally respected. Foreigners are no better than Americans. This really isn’t a national thing. It’s a reflection of the common global culture, which is sick everywhere.