CSotD: The Whole World Is Still Watching
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First Dog comments on our special military operation, which isn’t a war except sometimes somebody slips and accidentally calls it one. “Special Military Operation” is also what Vladimir Putin calls his invasion of Ukraine, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
But as First Dog says, Australia is definitely not in a war, though they seem to be somewhat adjacent to one, assuming there is one and assuming that helping to arm one of the belligerents isn’t the same as being actually involved. I thought it would be good to begin with his explanation, since it makes things so clear.
It’s easy to get confused when you deal with other nations. For instance, I assumed this was about a lacrosse tournament, since I’ve lived a lot closer to the Mohawk reserve at Akwesasne than I ever have to England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland or Wales. Turns out it’s rugby, which I think the Six Nations would really enjoy, since in olden days, lacrosse games often went on until one team couldn’t continue.
Juxtaposition of Itself
It seems it was just last month that Wilcox was criticizing Australia for having such restrictive policies for refugees, and yet here they are welcoming five members of the Iranian women’s futbol team and granting them humanitarian visas. It’s almost as if fame and publicity matter.
The women have been “moved to a safe location” which I hope is not Manus Island though I can’t think of a safer location.
In any case, they’ll be safe until the war … I’m sorry, the special operation … is over and then if there’s anything left they could even decide to go home.
And after the special operation is over, Iran should be a pretty wonderful place, because, as Baron points out, we have a long tradition of taking unpleasant situations and transforming them into paradises, though you can’t credit Dear Leader with most of these examples. I do note, however, that she depicts Gaza as still containing some active fires, a credit to his warm, expert touch.
Golding has had quite a bit to say on the topic, and here he examines the old saying that “Journalism is the first draft of history,” a quote attributed to Phil Graham back in the days when the Washington Post provided journalism on a consistent basis.
Golding, however, suggests that you don’t have to practice journalism in order to begin the process of compiling a history, since, as Baron also suggests, we’re not exactly experiencing anything new and surprising.
Blower says it’s the same old song, but with a different feeling since Khamenei’s gone, the real Golden Oldie being when OPEC got together and stopped oil exports, or at least cut them down to distressing levels. Having lobbed missiles at several oil producing nations recently, the band may have to play alone, but I suppose we’ll see who is being realistic about controlling Hormuz.
Blower looks back, I hope, to the 1969 film, The Italian Job, which was pointlessly remade in 2003 because the original was so good that they wanted to see how a mediocre version would look. And now Blower is suggesting that we may get to see an even less magically enchanting version, but if you haven’t seen the real thing you would hate me for spoilering it, and he may be over his readers’ heads.
In any case, the progress of this special operation reminds me more of the time Beaver was supposed to do a book report on the Three Musketeers but instead watched the Ritz Brothers’ movie version and reported on that.
It’s not much of a spoiler to say that Miss Landers was not fooled, nor should you be.
Back when we drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait, GHW Bush assembled 49 nations for the venture which he ended at the border. When his son decided to build a new regime, his coalition numbered four for the actual invasion, though three dozen joined up to provide support after the fall of Hussein.
Broelman seems justified in mocking the notion in this case, since Trump never approached the UN and appears to have a coalition of himself and Bibi Netanyahu, and it flatters him to list them in that order.
He has, I would note, asked Ukraine for help in shooting down drones, since they have developed less expensive ways of doing it than with expensive Patriot missiles.
Golding, however, sees Netanyahu as being in the driver’s seat, and Rep. Deborah Ross (D-CA) was earlier reported to have said that Israel has tried to get previous US presidents to invade Iran. However, she has since clarified her views to say “Iran is controlled by a despotic regime that must be held accountable, but Trump is dragging our country into a war that the American people don’t want and that Congress didn’t authorize.”
Yes, but Bibi did.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Like First Dog, Hudson and Katauskas are not convinced that Australia is really sitting back and considering whether to support the war, despite official statements that suggest the government has not come to a decision. The little girl in Katauskas’s cartoon may have been born yesterday, but the three cartoonists were not.
Turner not only echoes consumer complaints about rising gas prices worldwide, but blames Trump’s egotistical instincts for the situation, while the characters in his marginalia spread the blame further.
Downes also notes the rising prices, but transforms the pumps into ticking bombs, suggesting that the Australian government may not “weigh its options” forever.
Rowe assembles a coalition of his own, suggesting that the world isn’t terribly enthusiastic about the prospects for following Dear Leader into battle, but that his own PM is reluctant to undermine the current invasion and doesn’t want British PM Keir to do so, either.
Finally, Jennings places the blame entirely on Trump, including not just rising petroleum prices but the overall destruction, including the bombing of the elementary school, and the loss of world peace, despite Dear Leader’s reluctance to provide a coherent, consistent reason for the attacks.
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