At Roll Call Patricia Murphy succinctly summarizes the significant events of the day:
- The New York Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon is reluctantly making preparations for war with North Korea, including exercises in Nevada meant to simulate a foreign invasion.
- On Saturday, Hawaiians lived through every person’s nightmare — an accidental warning on their phones of an inbound missile attack that was not corrected for more than 45 minutes. The state was already on high enough alert that it had reinstated monthly Cold War-era nuclear siren tests at the end of last year.
- On Tuesday, Gallup released data that showed the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 3.2 million people in 2017.
- The parents of 9 million children who get health care through CHIP funding were told to prepare for possible gaps in their children’s coverage, since Congress still has no long-term funding plan.
- The staffs of the House and Senate continued to work in offices with almost no workplace protections.
On top of that a federal government shutdown is looming, thanks to the inability of the Republicans and Democrats to agree on a resolution of DACA and federal spending levels and the U. S. is at war in a half dozen countries, mostly in the Middle East and West Asia. What are the major media outlets talking about? A young woman had a bad date with a third rate celebrity, Kimye had their third kid (via surrogate), and the major media outlets still hate Trump.
What do you expect from the entertainment industry. Excuse me, I mean the news media.
Are you referring to the broadcast networks or cable news?
Because both MSNBC and CNN have been virtually non-stop coverage of the shutdown, with some coverage of developments in the Russia probe, since at least Tuesday. During that time, I haven’t seen any coverage of the Kardashians or the Aziz Ansari story
I’m referring to the online presences of the print media and particularly the opinion pages. The range of topics is extremely narrow.
I guess I’d make the same comment.
The New York Times and the Washington Post have been covering little other than the shutdown all week.
And the opinion pages are just that, opinion. I’m not sure they have any relevance at all.
“The New York Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon is reluctantly making preparations for war with North Korea, including exercises in Nevada meant to simulate a foreign invasion.”
I just had to roll my eyes at this. The Pentagon has been preparing for war on the Korean peninsula for longer than I’ve been alive.
Even worse there’s been some talk of a punitive strike against a North Korean military facility, presumably a nuclear development facility. That is manifest nonsense. The North Koreans would be forced to respond and the Chinese would help them.
I don’t know what they’re putting into the water in the Pentagon these days.
“Pentagon is reluctantly making preparations for war with North Korea,”
That, undoubtedly, is an outright lie. The warmongers at the Pentagon and CIA have seized control of military and foreign policy from Trump, and he is irrelevant to what transpires in North Korea and Iran. The warmongers really want to go to war with both North Korea and Iran and will do so unless Trump can suck it up and stop them. Will they kill him to get him out of the way? Probably. Is Pence more malleable? Maybe. But they can always work down the train of succession until they find their tool.
Moreover, every commentary I have seen regarding war with North Korea assumes, either tacitly or openly, that China and Russia will sit idly by and that the hopes and desires of the people of South Korea and Japan don’t matter. On the contrary, I believe that South Korea and Japan are willing to shoot down American bombers headed for the North.
Military would be irresponsible NOT to prepare. For any contingency. Doesn’t mean a decision has been made.
The Times knows that, just trying to sell subscriptions.
There are no circumstances under which a limit, punitive strike against North Korea makes the slightest bit of sense. Even considering it is either ill-informed or a sign of mental issues.
“Even worse there’s been some talk of a punitive strike against a North Korean military facility, presumably a nuclear development facility. That is manifest nonsense. The North Koreans would be forced to respond and the Chinese would help them.”
Again, nothing new here. One of the military’s primary responsibilities is contingency planning. There are various war/strike/battle plans complete with target lists for all kinds of scenarios. There are also plans for lots of non-combat related operations like country evacuations, humanitarian operations, etc.
There’s nothing wrong with the water in the Pentagon – at least in this case – they are doing their job. The decision on what to do will always come from the President who, we would hope, properly weigh the risks and benefits of any military action.
That said, I agree striking North Korean facilities would be unwise and, moreover, unlikely to be more than partially effective.
Bob,
“The warmongers at the Pentagon and CIA have seized control of military and foreign policy from Trump, and he is irrelevant to what transpires in North Korea and Iran.”
Interesting theory but one doesn’t square with reality. The current SECDEF is the least eager member of the cabinet to go to war with North Korea. As for the CIA, it’s not the 1960’s anymore.