upvote
>> changes the name from DoD to DoW

But he didn't. That requires congressional action. The DoW is just a "secondary" name attached via executive order. Contracts still say DOD. The only reason people are saying "DoW" it is to appease certain forceful personalities.

reply
Yes, surprising in a "I can't believe this is happening" way, not in a "this was unexpected" way. He made his campaign on ending everything. Diving headfirst into the first conflict he could with 0 understanding is the most expected thing that could've happened.
reply
Americans consistently vote for less war and they consistently get more war. If they voted for more war I’m pretty sure they would still get more war. I think blaming the American public for these wars is a deflection from the actual mechanisms that instigate them. We are more governed by blackmail than we are by voters.

I do wish there was even more resistance though, war has been effectively pitched as costless or even as a boon. Perhaps if this war bites there will be more resistance to future wars. At the very least the Iran war being such a disaster may have saved us from a more costly war with China - which the US was and in some ways still is gearing up for.

reply
> I think blaming the American public for these wars is a deflection

Where did I do that? There's no one to vote for that doesn't wage war.

But to say voting for Trump was voting for less war is plain ridiculous. You'd have to ignore his entire career. He is famously fickle, is not shy about lying, and abandons friends at the soonest opportunity. A rational person hearing him say "I will end the Ukraine war on day 1" would understand he's saying whatever he thinks sounds good.

reply
I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the guy was well known for being a liar and a charlatan and yet he was apparently the only politician Americans took implicitly at their word.

Like you'd think Americans would have learned after "read my lips, no new taxes" even if they somehow memory-holed Trump's entire first administration. But I guess not.

reply
It is ridiculously hard to understand. I don't get it either. There's something about not just knowing they're a liar but constantly being told that? Trump benefits a great deal from friendly mass media.
reply
Most mass media is conservative owned. It follows that they'll be friendly to conservative politicians.
reply
[flagged]
reply