They’re just like the Spartans!
Oh man. Just watched this video to get some Sam memories back. What in the fuck did we watch back in the day? JFC Just horrible.
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So does that mean that the USA also wont wage war for Israel? What would be the justification for that? Imo it’s just the “easy out answer” fully knowing that it sounds good on paper but we all know big business will defend their interests and economic pressure will always be limited unless you are NK or Iran maybe. The options are limited because Russia and China are just waiting to step in because they dont feel morally obliged to fight for opressed people as long as they have access to important natural resources. Honestly I get the feeling we might drift back into darker ages. We are already looking for scapegoats everywhere again. China tries to control their people through a social scoring system. I feel the future looks very grim on several levels.
When has the US ever waged war for Israel? More like Israel wages war for the US. Or, the US wages war through Israel.
late night musings based on an article I read that I can’t find now about a young Taliban fighter entering Kabul for the first time and seeing modern buildings, starbucks, internet cafes, etc. Article mentioned that 20 years ago Kabul was basically still a stone-age city, there was one computer in the entire country, etc.
The young kid didn’t want to leave to go back to the countryside. Everyone has cell phones and connection to the outside world. Kid was in awe.
I have been fairly depressed about all this the past few days, but that article, as shocking as it was, gave me, i dunno, a small feeling of hope? Will the 20 years we spent modernizing Kabul and the basic infrastructure of the country actually make a difference? It’s easy to see the Taliban coming in and tearing it all down, but even if they do, it’s a hell of a lot harder to take things away from people than to deny them things in the first place.
I have to wonder, if the Taliban does tear it all down, how much will the people who lived there during our forced modernization begin to resent them? Yeah, the ANA didn’t put up a fight now, but will it be a case of “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” and in a few years time, will the people start demanding change from the Taliban? will it lose support?
I dunno. Just something I thought of 2 beers in after reading about that kid from the country who saw modern streets and glass buildings and internet cafes for the first time. Maybe I’m wishcasting, maybe I just want to feel better…either way, I think it’s possible. Maybe not probable, but possible…
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How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm when they’ve seen Kabul?
This doesn’t have any authority behind it either but the fighting will go on. The Taliban just don’t seem the conciliatory sort and it’s hard to imagine tens of thousands of trained soldiers all just going quietly when the brute squad shows up at their door. The Taliban may be the ones fighting an insurgency soon.
Man there was a lot of shit stand-up in the 80s.
Sam wasn’t it though. Breaking All The Rules is still an excellent special. I can see why the screaming would be so off-putting though.
apolitical attitude and feeling of helplessness are learned, but so is political activism. you can see it develop in some places after a metaphorical window opens, e.g. Russia. i hope Afghanistan will be that. 20 years of civil war against religious oppression might have opened a crack. doesn’t mean that progress will be monotonic, there will be more setbacks, but for sure the next generation of Afghan opposition and diaspora will have grown up in the US occupation, rather than under Taliban. that’s … something.
I think Sam tapped into some kind of primal rage in all of us.
But his signature bit was capping on Ethiopians for starving to death. Admonishing them for living in sand, and why don’t they just move. It wasn’t always sand Sam. And Ethiopia is actually a gorgeous country with a ton to offer when they aren’t in a war or 1000-year drought. And there’s nowhere to move. And colonialism.
It wouldn’t fly today for sure.
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I watched like 2 minutes of that and his first two jokes were “Asian guy working at 711 doesn’t speak English, should have killed him in Vietnam” and “lol wives are terrible right?”
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Wonder if Sam would’ve been complaining about cancel culture on Twitter if he was still alive.
Honestly, I just imagine his Twitter feed being a lot of typed out screaming.
So Asraf Ghani left Afghanistan with $169M (per an Afghan ambassador) in cash and the Afghan Army hadn’t been getting paid regularly in forever?
I’m sure there’s more in overseas accounts.
Just like that, although there’s more. I think it’s not entirely fair to lay this at the feet of the Afghanis. They were certainly grifting, but so were a lot of American contractors, so blame needs to be laid in the proper places.
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That seems unlikely. If it was $100 bills it would weigh as much as 2050 average Americans. He’d have needed 3 C-17s like the one that was packed with people. If true, I hope he at least had the good grace to reuse plastic grocery bags.
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Million bucks in hundos weighs 22 pounds. 3700 pounds for the 169 million. Pushing it for a Blackhawk, if he can finagle a CH-47 it’s no sweat.
Of course not. It’s entirely the US and friends’ fault. Except for Barbara Lee.
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Geez. No wonder they gave up so easily.
Why in the world would you blame the Afghanis at all? Some country invades my country and then wants to pour tens of billions of dollars a year through my country for propaganda and grifting, why shouldn’t I try to siphon a bit off and get paid? I mean the only thing to worry about is not getting killed by the resistance fighters/future rulers, otherwise what’s the big deal?