No War for Saudi Arabia
Also: Do Democrats recognize any restraint on government power?
For your because-2019 files:
Trump awaits instructions from his Saudi masters. Having our country act as Saudi Arabia's bitch is not "America First." https://t.co/kJOCpqwaQS
— Tulsi Gabbard ???? (@TulsiGabbard) September 16, 2019
So what fresh hell is this "locked and loaded" nonsense? That's what kicks off this week's Editors Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast, featuring Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch. The quartet also discusses highlights and lowlights from last week's Democratic presidential debate, rages against the dying of the vape, and tries to fix Katherine's bad movie-watching instincts.
Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Music credit: "Complicate Ya" by Otis McDonald
Relevant links from the show:
"Yemen, Iran, and the War Powers Act," by Ilya Somin
"Is the U.S. Stumbling Towards an Accidental War With Iran?" by Christian Britschgi
"War With Iran May Have Been Avoided Due to Trump's Fondness for Fox News," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"Democratic Candidates Agree—Let's Get Out of Afghanistan," by Scott Shackford
"The Corruptions of Power," by Matt Welch
"Kamala Harris Does Not Understand Why the Constitution Should Get in the Way of Her Gun Control Agenda," by Jacob Sullum
"Andrew Yang Is the Anti–Elizabeth Warren," by Shikha Dalmia
"Vicious Scapegoating Is the Whole Point of Beto O'Rourke's Gun Grab," by Jacob Sullum
"On Trade, Democrats Continue Struggling To Differentiate From Trump," by Eric Boehm
"There's Only 1 Democrat Talking About the Constitution, and It's (Shudder) Joe Biden," by Matt Welch
"Banning Flavored E-Cigarettes Has Nothing to Do With the Hazards of Black-Market Cannabis Products," by Jacob Sullum
"The Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes May Lead to More Smoking by Teenagers As Well As Adults," by Jacob Sullum
"Trump's Ban on E-Cigarette Flavors Endangers Public Health," by Jacob Sullum
"The Great Lost Rolling Stones Documentary Is Now a Museum Piece," by Kurt Loder
"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and To Rome with Love," by Kurt Loder
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“Do Democrats recognize any restraint on government power?
No, and neither do the republicans.
To be sure, there is abortion…
“If you like your small business you can keep your small business”
– Democrat 2020
If you like your small business you’ll love your small business when every single customer in your town has $1000 extra a month to spend on goods and services.
— Democrat 2020 and beyond
LOL
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lol.
“Trump awaits instructions from his Saudi masters. Having our country act as Saudi Arabia’s bitch is not ‘America First.'”
Ugh, Tulsi Gabbard is so awful. Even when she criticizes Drumpf, she doesn’t do it right. As Robert Mueller proved, it’s not Saudi Arabia that controls our government, it’s Russia.
But Tulsi, also being a Russian puppet, would obviously divert attention away from such ties.
QED
Of course. She is, after all, Putin’s favorite Democrat.
Well Putin is just jealous that the Ukraine owns more dems.
Well, that certainly is a reasoned, dispassionate analysis of a developing situation by Tulsi Gabbard, and in no a self-beclowning.
In her defense, her earnest alpha-male impression of a real leader capable of challenging DJT was better than Beto’s.
Certainly beats the war drums. Besides, if we are going to be defending random countries like Saudi Arabia, they should formally be placed under American suzerainty, so that they cannot do things that needlessly endanger us.
It may or it may not. Avoiding taking a hostile stance may not lead to war in the lead future but may lead to a worse conflagration down the line. Whatever the situation is Gabbard’s was not a helpful contribution.
I kinda get why the US constantly sucks Saudi dick, the petrodollar, but that whole scheme can’t last forever. The cracks that have formed over the past decade or so are getting wider, through oil trade deals that don’t involve the dollar, ie Russia and Iran. Russia and Iran are our big enemies and Saudi Arabia is our big friend just because of this petrodollar thing.
Anyway, what happens when it finally unravels for real? What’s the US going to do about it? Oil is slowly and gradually becoming less important (yes, it will still be a vital commodity, but the volumes consumed will be much lower). The Saudis are have been working on an IPO for a good chunk of Aramco because they see this coming too. But why do we keep kissing their asses like they’re still 50% of global production? They’re not. It’s like 10% now. They can be the US bitch now. They need the US more than the US needs them.
Russia and Iran are our big enemies and Saudi Arabia is our big friend just because of this petrodollar thing.
Yeah, because without Saudi Arabia Russia and Iran would be our allies. Our alignment with Saudi Arabia is where all of this started.
They wouldn’t be US allies (you and I are not the US) obviously, but at this point they wouldn’t be such dire enemies and there wouldn’t be all this constant saber rattling without the backdrop of the petrodollar. But you know what? Hell, when I think of places like Pakistan and Turkey (and Saudi Arabia!), Russia and Iran could have even turned out to be nominal “allies” after all.
Trump 2014: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/506198852933013504
Trump 2019: LOCKED AND LOADED!
Or the third option, which is that we have total control of their foreign policy. That way, we can ensure that they don’t do anything stupid. In any case, “they get to be independent and we defend them” is a retarded option.
“That way we can ensure they don’t do anything stupid.”
You mean like when they sent a bunch of their citizens to hijack planes and fly them into buildings? Yeah, that was stupid. Or maybe just stupid like sawing up the journalist who shows up at their embassy to apply for a marriage license? I say fuck our Saudi “allies” and the camel they rode in on.
Juice
September.16.2019 at 4:45 pm
I kinda get why the US constantly sucks Saudi dick
@Katherine, There is an amazing movie with Rome as an important backdrop called The Great Beauty, really great film.
IS KATHERINE MANGU-WARD REALLY BEN SHAPIRO IN DRAG? I know she’s more honest and nuanced and smarter than neo-con Ben, but there’s an eerie resemblance. Separated at birth? Or am I just trying to scare myself? PS: Good work on that vaping issue!
“Do Democrats recognize any restraint on government power?”
No! They think they can do anything.
Constitutional Scholar Pete Stark says there are no limits to what the government can do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnOZAJt47c
Truth is laws that violate our unalienable rights are not just and they cannot do it.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”
It is hoped that it will not affect the development of the economy. For example, aluminum foil products are increasingly being used in food packaging, including meat. In addition, aluminum foil can also be applied to the packaging of pharmaceuticals and electronic products.
https://www.aluminumalloymanufacturer.com
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