The Rude Pundit: Sorry, But Fuck Syria

[meegbear]

Last week, the Detroit News, the chronicle of the slow garroting of a once-pretty good city, published an article about how the city of Detroit couldn't provide death certificates to funeral directors because the paper supplier wanted to get paid in advance. The paper supplier was skittish because Detroit is fucked beyond fucked, in bankruptcy and run by an emergency manager, and it didn't want to get dicked over.

The paper crisis was solved, but now funeral directors were told that the county morgue would no longer release bodies to families and funeral homes on Sundays. Oh, and the city vital records department is closing. That's because the city is shutting the Herman Kiefer Health Complex, where thousands of people got their health and wellness services, like "vaccinations, birth control, food handling licensing, HIV and STD testing, and other public safety operations." They'll get it, but at smaller, less centralized locations in the county. The employees don't know what is going to happen with their jobs.

In Chicago this Labor Day weekend, 8 people were shot dead and 25 were wounded in a bunch of different gun incidents. There have been over 1500 shootings in the city so far this year. That is a humanitarian crisis, too, it seems.

In Philadelphia, the city wants to cut the pay of teachers at least 5%, maybe up to 13%, and cut health benefits while making them work a longer day. West Virginia has just gutted funding for colleges, forcing layoffs and jacking up tuition.

Across this America, city after city and state after state, the basics of daily life (and death) are being wrecked, in part, by our failure to spend on things that matter to Americans, things that actually would make this a great country. A nation that has a city that, even briefly, couldn't provide death or birth certificates because it didn't have paper is a nation that has absolutely no business spending millions, perhaps billions of dollars to bomb Syria just because the mad president there did something insane.

No, sorry, but fuck Syria. When we don't have to tell schoolteachers to take a pay cut and we can assure the children of Chicago they won't get shot, we can talk about being the moral authority in the world.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[whatchamacallit]

1. Hell ya! K&R n/t

[PNW_Dem]

55. No More Team America World Police!

It’s time for the Saudis to show some leadership and step up to the plate. We are not wanted in that region so they should start fixing their own problems.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. The Rude One is more polite about it than what I've been thinking.

[Rockyj]

37. He's not RUDE to me!

Just telling it like it is!

[Ninga]

3. yes. nt

[leftstreet]

4. DURec

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Well, yeah, but I wonder...

if as much attention has been paid to these problems by those complaining about the impending "war."

There's this thing about hair ignition of the day where everyone gets all het up about something until the next thing to get all het up about comes up. And nothing gets done.

[Hydra]

15. Ironic, isn't it?

They're all happy to throw that "hair on fire" thing around about the NSA, but now that they want a war, their hair is on fire.

Can't make this stuff up. Constitution? Meh. War. YAYY!!!

[yurbud]

57. most of us complaining about the impending war are following those other issues pretty closely

Part of the outrage at Washington is their constant cry of needing to tighten belts UNLESS it's time for a Wall Street bailout or a war.

There is really just one big war going on all the time now: the 1% (really the 1% of the 1%) against the rest of us.

They backed the rebels in Syria and now say we have to act to prevent civilian deaths?

If they cared about civilian deaths, there would be far fewer of them in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

[TreasonousBastard]

59. Following, or doing something about...

which is my point.

I see a lot of gassing here about this and that, but damn few workable solutions proposed.

And even fewer tales of anyone taking any action besides maybe a march or a sign.

Or posting on a message board.

[yurbud]

71. look harder. Also, if you think posting a message board is pointless, what are you doing here?

[TreasonousBastard]

72. Killing time, and admitting to it...

on edit:

Posting doesn't have to be pointless, but it tends to be ego driven and done by people with a lot of time on their hands.

[yurbud]

74. ha! thank you. If discussion boards were pointless, why do people pay PR shills to post?

they must think they can move public opinion on boards, so if they can do it for money, maybe some of us can do it for free.

[MyOwnPeace]

6. And............

our "reps" are lining up to support this nonsense!

[valerief]

7. You're talking about taking A LOT of money from very rich people. Unheard of in America! nt

[Avalux]

8. I just wrote a post saying the same thing. In a much less 'eloquent' way.

And my daughter said to me last night - what if we took all the money we spend on bombs and guns and weapons, and used it to help people instead? What would happen then?

[okieinpain]

23. wouldn't it be grand. but more then likely we would

be back to needing bombs and guns because some other country would try to take over some other country. you know the old saying, first they came for.......

[CrispyQ]

34. This toon is a little off topic, but fitting.

Yeah, what if?

[penndragon69]

9. FUCK that whole region.

If the UN and NATO want to do something about what's happening in THEIR
back yard, FINE...because it's not our concern.

But then, maybe if the British had not SOLD them the chemicals that they could
use to make sarin and nerve gas.....maybe this would not have happened in the first place.

[Rebellious Republican]

14. Except that the british did not sell them the chemicals.

The Labour MP Thomas Docherty, a member of the Commons Arms Export Controls Committee, will today table parliamentary questions demanding to know why the licences were granted and to whom.



He said: “This would seem to be a case of breath-taking laxity – the Government has had a very lucky escape indeed that these chemicals were not sent to Syria.



“What was Mr Cable’s department doing authorising the sale of chemicals which by their own admission had a dual use as precursors for chemical weapons at a time when the Syria’s war was long under way?”

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/british-government-allowed-company-to-export-nerve-gas-chemicals-to-syria-while-civil-war-was-raging-29544498.html

[okieinpain]

25. dang it, don't bomb the uk..... n/t.

[okieinpain]

24. bomb the uk..... n/t.

[DFab420]

10. The Rude Pundit: Sorry, But Fuck Syrian Civilians Caught Between a Rebellion and a Despot (FTFY)

[Bette Noir]

17. And bombing them would help the Syrian civilians how?

[Orrex]

21. That's a ridiculous question

If we bomb them, then they won't have to worry about dying from chemical weapons.

Duh!

[ConservativeDemocrat]

22. Yeah, and no one can tell one Syrian from another anyway!

Just like all the DUers saying "fuck Syria"!

I mean, who cares about saving innocent people by blowing up the equipment being used to murder them!
The point is that DUers want to see more children gassed. Just so long as it makes President Obama look bad.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

/ See! I can do it too!

[okieinpain]

26. we are not going to be bombing civies.... well we will be bombing

the ones that assad is using as human shields.

[sulphurdunn]

18. By now it should be clear

to anyone born before the turn of the century that whatever else we might achieve by starting another war, it won't help civilians and will most likely make things much worse. Yes, even worse than being gassed.

[rhett o rick]

39. What's your solution? 150 cruise missiles? WE CANT AFFORD TO FOOT THE BILL. nm

[nikto]

11. Fuck yeah!!

Exactly right.

[Nye Bevan]

12. I think I know where RP would have stood on Lend-Lease (nt)

[malaise]

13. Excellent Rudie

[Bette Noir]

16. When I'm President, Rude is going to be my Secretary of State.

[calimary]

19. Well, not a whole lot here with which I can disagree.

Wonder how many Americans who want to take action against Syria would be willing to pay higher taxes to fund it?

[CrispyQ]

35. Yes.

Noticeably lacking in the media spin, is any question of how to pay for this. They are all winking behind the cameras, knowing that when the budget crisis rears it's head, grandma & head start will pay the price. Again. And their stock portfolios will balloon.

I used to sport a bumper sticker, Support the Troops, Pay Your Taxes. Repubs would call me out on other stickers, especially at the gas station, but never that one. Guess it made them uncomfortable, standing a few feet away from me with their little yellow ribbon.

[calimary]

44. Would that be the republi-CONS who have the cheap-ass made-in-China yellow-ribbon car magnets

(or the red-white-and-blue ones) that say "Support Our Troops"?

[Maedhros]

58. Or the little American flags that say "These Colors Don't Run"

(but all the red and blue has somehow faded to yellow?)

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. One reason why we can't "assure the children of Chicago they won't get shot" is that

prison resources are being used to unnecessarily house non-violent marijuana offenders instead of keeping violent criminals, including gang-bangers who turn out the vote for local politicians, in prison.

The prison system for Chicago has a reputation for being a catch-and-release system for violent criminals. Historically, gang members who have been caught carrying a firearm, and prosecuted, have received as little as one year in jail. How can we have so many repeat offenders? The over-crowded prison system allows for this. The prison system is overcrowded because those who violate the marijuana laws are given unnecessary prison sentences.

It is not just that we don't have the additional resources in this country. It is also true that, while politicians are squandering our resources in the Middle-East, they are also misusing our resources in this country.

[nashville_brook]

27. hearty k and r

[Peregrine Took]

28. Good thing Stephanie Miller is on vacation this week - two of her hero's

Alan Grayson and Rude Pundit are breaking bad on her Obama Adoration Society.

[grahamhgreen]

30. Strange Thom Hartmann is MIA also...

[grahamhgreen]

29. Well said.

[99th_Monkey]

31. Double Hell Yah! nt

[bluedeathray]

32. Go RP!

The list of morally outrageous events in America is long, and at least as prevalent as violence in Syria.

Or is it Sarin that trips the switch? If so, I call bullshit!

[heaven05]

33. but, but

I don't want to think about those type of things. thanks rude, maybe the people will have enough gumption this time to stop this travesty called divine intervention. Sarcasm thingy again.

[TroglodyteScholar]

36. The Rude One nails it again

Why don't we just get our own shit in order, huh folks? Is that too much to ask of our elected overlords?

[marble falls]

38. Syria pretty much fucked itself.

[Paladin]

40. Bravo, Rudester. (nt)

[workinclasszero]

41. The fucking teabag republicans sequester is killing america

The rat bastards are determined to kill social security, medicare, food stamps any healthcare for the sick and needy. Also no money for roads, bridges and infrastructure.

Why? NO MONEY!! they scream!

So now we our on the verge of flushing BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars down a shithole in Syria and...like fucking magic...WE HAVE MONEY FALLING FROM THE SKY to pay for it!

Total fucking BULLSHIT!

If these warmongering pricks want a war the mf'ers better pay for it! How about raising taxes on the the top 10% of all Americans to pay for this Empire building BS?

Shit the war would be freaking over before it started!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. .

[Hubert Flottz]

42. K&R

The RP in 2016!

[blkmusclmachine]

43. No War For Profit.

Kerry, he was against it before he was for it.

[99Forever]

45. Oh fuck yes.

[sabrina 1]

47. The Rude One is right as usual.

[Spider Jerusalem]

48. Because we can't walk and chew gum at the same time, obviously

and because local budgets funded by sales and property taxes have anything at all to do with federal funding for the military.

[russspeakeasy]

49. Best Ever !!

[jsr]

50. Fuck the warmongers.

[MisterP]

51. and their vomitous, authoritarian apologists: they've been wrong for 13 years & they won't stop now!

[gopiscrap]

52. I AGREE!!!!

[Oakenshield]

53. We have no moral authority!!

That's the part that really fucking pisses me off! Hello?! How many civilians have died since we got involved with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam?! Let's not forget the agent orange and uranium ammunition we've used during those conflicts. Ruthless drone strikes aren't helping our supposedly "heroic" national image either.

And now we're trying to play the champion of peace and human rights? I could vomit, that's how utterly disgusted I am by this rank hypocrisy.

[Little Star]

65. Hear, hear!

[Nanjing to Seoul]

54. I love the Rude! Always have!

[abelenkpe]

56. K&R

[Enthusiast]

60. Kicked and Recommended!

Great article! And exactly right on point.

[iamthebandfanman]

61. me me me!

sounds like another ideology ive been fighting for the last 13 years.


sad.


we are not broke. we have money for teachers as well as action in Syria.


get a grip.

[flygal]

62. Exactly! nt

[Alkene]

63. Cogent n/t

[pampango]

66. Fuck Detroit AND Syria, fuck Detroit OR Syria or fuck neither Detroit nor Syria?

Can we only not fuck one thing at a time?

The House may stop an attack on Assad. Something tells me that the next step of the republican majority there is not going to be use that money to unfuck Detroit.

If the meegbear bill in congress is to save money on Syria and spend it in Detroit, I will vote for that. I doubt republicans will.

[yurbud]

73. yep. If Congress cared so much about human rights, they wouldn't be looking for excuses to cut aid

to kids among others.

I guess the human way to kill civilians is to outsource their jobs, cut funding for their kids school except for profit charters and the testing industry, then take away school lunch programs, make it harder for parents to get any kind of aid, look for excuses to cut Social Security and/or privatize it, and let employers raid or bankrupt their way out of paying pensions owed their employees, so grandma and grandpa will be lining up at the soup kitchen again too.

And kill their hope with all of the above

[GeorgeGist]

67. You don't get it ...

President Obama can't reach across the aisle to help Detroit etc.

[CanonRay]

68. Thanks rude dude

[Highway61]

69. Nailed it

No comment needed...

[forestpath]

70. K&R