And since we are on the subject of immaturity, am I tired or what of the inane bellyaching that Obama has deported many illegal immigrants. Yes, he’s been deporting like he’s getting paid to do it. Because you know what? He’s being paid to do it. It’s his job to give voters what they want. Have you not observed what enormous support there exists in this country for deportations? Has the immense popularity of a presidential candidate who is trouncing every opponent in sight because of his enthusiastic support for deportations escaped your notice? The people who oppose deportations are either not citizens or not willing to do anything to stop them other than engaging in vague mutterings on Facebook. Given this objective reality that nobody is in any hurry to change, can anybody explain to me why Obama should thwart the express wishes of citizens and end deportations? No, nobody can. Case closed.
And the same goes for “Hillary is too hawkish” brand of foolishness. When the so-called Arab Spring was taking place, I was the only person I know who was arguing right here on this blog that it had nothing to do with anybody’s desire to establish democracy and that we should all stay away from the whole thing until we can learn to analyze it on its own terms and not through the lens of the reductive America-centric vision. But everybody else was all “Rah-rah, Tahrir Square, rah-rah, a fight for freedom!” And the most eagerly rah-rahing folks were Democrats. So their representatives – Obama and Clinton – follow the voters’ mandate, get involved, the whole thing backfires, and what happens then? Do the rah-rahers say, “Yeah, we should stop opining on countries we don’t understand and go get educated about the world?” No, of course not. They get all pouty at Daddy Barack and Mommy Hillary for not anticipating their easily changing wishes better.
And it’s the same with Bush’s war in Iraq and the Congress that voted for it. The support for the war was very high in the months before it started. So the people’s representatives gave the idiot people what those people wanted. And when everything turned out the way it always turns out, what did our pouting friends do? Did they blame themselves at any point? No, of course, not. It’s Daddy Bush and the eternal Mommy Hillary that got blamed. Cute, eh?
It is beyond immature to believe that it’s perfectly OK to remain grievously ignorant about other countries and to blame the results of that ignorance on parental figures.
Clarissa's Blog 
Most US voters couldn’t tell you where Libya is if you gave them a map. Opinions on foreign policy are soft and easily manipulated because there is no emotional underpinning for them. Instead, Americans care about their wallet, and that means jobs, gas prices and interest rates. The notion that “the public wants” is a smokescreen at best. The lack of investment explains why public opinion can appear to turn so quickly.
There were interest groups driving policy vis a vis Iraq and Libya, but who were they?
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I was right here when people who, as you correctly say, know dick about the Middle East were going into paroxysms of enthusiasm over the Arab Spring. Not knowing anything was no barrier to opining on the subject. Of course, now that it didn’t work out everybody is going “Arab Spring who?” But what can I do if I have a good memory and remember those paroxysms well enough.
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What Vic said.
“He’s being paid to do it. It’s his job to give voters what they want.”
Oh please. There are literally hundreds of things that voters want before they come around to ‘bombing muslim countries’ but strangely enough, the government never seems to give the voters those things. I can’t take this post seriously. The idea that it’s his job to give voters what they want is not true outside of a grade 6 civics text book. There is a complete disconnect between what voters want and what government priorities are, and it has been for quite a long time.
The one interesting thing that this election has revealed is how centrist democrats have adopted republican talking points and positions.
a) Money in politics, no big deal!
b) Iraq war? What Iraq war? Shut the fuck up, it was so long ago. Besides, you asked for it!
c) Voting irregularities? Should’ve brought 3 forms of ID to the polling booth. Should’ve registered eight months ago. Fuck off, loser.
And it’s just May.
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“There is a complete disconnect between what voters want and what government priorities are, and it has been for quite a long time.”
Where I live, support for Trump is just insane. And you should hear how excitedly people talk about the urgent need to bomb Syria.
I forget the name of the 19th-century writer who said that every nation gets exactly the government that it deserves.
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Alas it was on an old blog that is no longer online or I’d link to it, but I averred that the most likely result of the Arab Spring was increasing Islamism, militarism, and pretty much what happened. I’ve lived in the area, so it was pretty obvious what would occur. And it did. The US should’ve never gotten involved.
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I was saying the same thing. But how many people agreed at the time? Now, of course, everybody knows better.
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