This is pretty much exactly where I'm at. I wish the author would have noted how small a sliver of the "Western Left" resides in America. The mainstream political "Left" of America is "Western Center". Probably almost every single person reading this here on the 'ski knows that, but yeah, there are only about 100k members of the Democratic Socialists of America. As someone close to or inside 'democratic socialist' on the ideological spectrum, but certainly not card carrying; Yoikes. The DSA press release has aged very poorly. The small numbers of self-proclaimed democratic socialists are very passionate about organizing to effect political change, but if the organizations react with entrenched, party-line groupthink, I'm not interested. Criticizing NATO and the U.S. is fine, even patriotic, and we should never forget how stupid and tragic the U.S.'s middle east meddling was. But if you react in one way, and one way only, to evolving geopolitical power struggles, you don't deserve a platform. Learn2nuance. This time, the establishment democrats got it right, more or less. That said, we would be wise not to let Cold War II minimize the domestic threat we're facing. Really, they're the same threat; autocratic oppression.
We have learned the lesson time and again that isolationism always leads nowhere, but makes interventions worse when they finally become unavoidable. Of course Jacobin and tucker Carlson are morons. I would argue Carlson is the far more dangerous moron, because of the size of his audience. But neither seems up on historic precedent. I commend Biden for the line he's towing right now. I am impressed, and I'm glad that he's our president at this moment.
Nah, I suspect Carlson knows perfectly well that stoking nationalism weakens the Western alliance. The Jacobin people? I'm much less sure, but if you find yourself agreeing with someone who seems to genuinely relish making boatloads of money by destroying the fabric of society, it might be time for some soul searching. I, too, am out in my front yard, parading my Joe Biden flag back and forth across the lawn, yelling "BRANDON DONE DID IT NOW", and wearing a blue hat embroidered in white with: I GOT HAIRY LEGS No but seriously, thank god Trump lost.
Been thinking about that point on Biden this week. Is Putin an idiot for not having invaded Ukraine while Trump was president, or is there an angle I’ve been missing on why, if you’re going to invade Ukraine, you don’t just do it two years ago?
I think that everyone from the American left and right to the Russian establishment genuinely misjudged what Joe is capable of. We haven't had a president who was experienced in foreign policy since Bush I. It's a different ball game, and clearly he knows how to play. I hope the oligarchs continue to defect. It's our best chance of getting out of this with minimal damage. If the ruble falls another 10 or 20% tomorrow the rats may start to jump ship.