(no subject)

[oportet]

They said war is hell. They said no one wins in war. They said war, huh, yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

They were right - were.

For the American politician, the current war in Ukraine is almost too good to be true - look at this hand full of aces;

1) They get their war - glorious war against one of our all time favorite bad guys - a war that enriches their buddies in the war lobby and also allows them to go on tv and use big tough war words like 'javelin' (which I'm convinced they receive some sort of commission for mentioning incessantly).

2) None of those pesky complaints about the body bags coming back - subcontracting out war means those body bags are someone elses problem!

3) Zero questioning or protest from anyone who isn't an Agent of Putin! Toughest question from a journalist is 'what more can we do?' - and the answer to that is more javelins. *turns to camera 3* Javelins, the name you trust.

4) Bonus for Republicans - should everything go to shit (which considering past performance is more likely than not), the other side has the wheel. Points are points.

All that being said - I'm sure they won't get addicted. If the opportunity presented itself to deescalate - we're all confidant the aforementioned incentives would not cause them any hesitation.

Comments

[asthfghl]

Yep. And the best part? It's all happening thousands of miles away and is therefore someone else's problem. As for the economic benefits from some other region getting messed up, well...

[oportet]

They took the war in Syria and removed the parts that didn't do well with the focus groups. This is Syria with fewer uncomfortable side effects.

[mahnmut]

Ooooo edgy satire, me likey!

[garote]

The war is hauling US attention away from Biden's domestic economic agenda, and tanking his poll numbers. The spike in gas prices alone has brutally slashed his approval rating. He's not pleased. No one in the whole Democratic party is pleased.

Congressed passed 40 billion in aid, going directly to the military industrial complex. It barely passed, because Republicans hate the idea of cooperating with the Biden administration. They're not pleased.

The US citizenry is interested in the drama, up to a point. Drag it out three more months and see what happens then. But it isn't translating into love for politicians, and it's reawakening ugly fears about nuclear destruction. They are not pleased.

Trump is soft-pedaling criticism of Putin, mostly to be contrarian and score media coverage, but it's negatively affecting his midterm election picks, weakening his hold on the Republican party. He's not pleased.

Arms manufacturers -- they are pleased, yes. Journalists -- I don't think they're happy, but the're certainly busy.

Ukranians are definitely not pleased.

The Russian military is now an international laughingstock. They are not pleased.

The Russian citizens are never pleased. Life in Russia sucks. Most people outside of Moscow are disinformed, isolated, ignored, trapped, brain-drained, and deeply cynical. They lost twenty million people in World War II and almost immediately became pariahs to Europe and the US for their trouble. No one mourns those Russian dead except the Russians. Then millions and millions more died under Stalin, to the utter indifference of the rest of the world. Then they were threatened with nuclear annihilation, then their whole god damn country collapsed and most of the best land was amputated, and gangsters and plutocrats latched onto the remains like a wad of ticks, and have burrowed into a government that claims absolute right to subjugate and control its citizens because it - and they - consider the ruling class to be the soul of Russia itself, inseparable from the land and its history. In Russia, if the government is threatened by your ideas, then your ideas are anti-Russian. In Russia, shit takes you!

Truth is lies. Up is down. Et cetera. It this going to work out for them? No. Nothing ever works out for them. Nothing ever has, so why should it now? Putin holding a fake-ass televised interview marathon with his generals on Russian state TV with this hangdog expression on his face the entire time was not an act. He knows it's going to be a mess and cause ruination and maybe even end the world, but hey, life sucks in Russia and it always will, so what's the difference? Let's do it.

[oportet]

The war is hauling US attention away from Biden's domestic economic agenda, and tanking his poll numbers.

Or is it really -

The war is distracting US attention away from Biden's domestic economic agenda, and keeping his poll numbers from tanking even lower?

[garote]

Hah! It's taking his tanked poll numbers, and putting them in another tank inside that tank, and flushing it.