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TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#139101: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:02:39 PM

They may not have to. Depends on who their allies are.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#139102: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:05:52 PM

They have plenty of MRBMnote  and warheads capable of being fitted inside mobile launch vehicles.

The Pentagon worries over Pakistan is either the radical elements of the Pakistani government taking over and starting a open war with India, which is a low probability scenario but real enough to be concerned with, or the civilian government imploding thanks to its incompetence and sabotage from radical Islamists within the government, resulting in a Syria scenario. One which there would be several different factions fighting among each other and a near complete loss of control over the Pakistani military and as a result a loss of control of Pakistan's nuclear forces. Which could result in an Empty Quiver by terrorist organizations or rogue military forces or someone being stupid enough to launch a live nuclear warhead against India, US bases in Afghanistan, US bases or US allies in Asia.

But then I wouldn't be surprised the Pentagon has a contingency plan for Pakistan's nukes, which probably would involve the USAF bombing the living shit of every Pakistani military installation capable of storing and launching nuclear tipped missiles and then bomb those bases some more.

So far the military aid AKA  have been able to keep the corrupt elements in the Pakistani military from doing something incredibly stupid. However the Pakistani Intelligence Service is acting like a bunch of morons by still supporting the Islamists elements in Pakistan and part of this reason is how they can be used against India and Afghanistan without explicit involvement of Pakistan.

Inter arma enim silent leges
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#139103: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:15:58 PM

I'd be shocked if there wasn't a joint P5+India plan for dealing with Pakistanis nukes if everything went to shit, or at least a US, US Allies, Russia and India plan.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#139104: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:24:07 PM

The civilian government there de facto doesn't control the nukes or even foreign policy. It's fall or stay is quite irrelevant. What matters in the case of the US's worries, is who is the Chief of Army Staff (which, as it happens, is about to become vacant, with several contenders for the post to be put in between now and the end of November, unless the current chief gets an extension, which has a lot of political ramifications) and who heads the various Army Corps (there are 11 of them, one of them nuclear) and the ISI.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#139105: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:25:56 PM

The problem would be getting the US on the same page as India regarding when to deploy said plans - while the US and India have pretty friendly relations in general, India knows that the US and Pakistan are long-term allies and that the US has an annoying tendency to let the tail wag the dog.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#139106: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:30:50 PM

[up][up]Intelligence agencies short-sightedly using dangerous crackpot radicals as cat's paws for striking at enemies they aren't supposed to? Who would have thought?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
940131 Since: Feb, 2014
#139107: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:40:41 PM

@Game Guru From what I've seen, no ones taking Trumps birther deflection seriously. Hillary's E-Mail scandal was very real. People were right to suspect she wasn't healthy and the Clinton Campaign tried to cover it up. I understand why she'd want to hide the fact that she was sick, but ultimately I think it hurt her. She already has a transparency problem. You're right about Benghazi though. From what I've read, the Republicans have been attacking the Clintons and Obamas for a lot of stupid and insignificant things, but Americans have good reasons to dislike Hillary Clinton. Honestly, I have a problem with the Libyan intervention period. That country has been destroyed. Now American politicians on both sides are talking about doing the same thing to Assad. Saddam, Gaddafi, Assad... these aren't good people, but they keep stability. Now their countries are breeding grounds for ISIL.

edited 19th Sep '16 1:48:40 PM by 940131

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#139108: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:47:29 PM

[up]That she happened to get sick isn't nearly the same thing as the implication that she's likely to drop dead the next day after being elected. Which is what that means, and oddly enough doesn't seem to be applied the same way to Trump.

I mean, people ask questions like this all about all older candidates, but it doesn't usually have the air of conspiracy around it.

Edit: And people still haven't clarified how she was hiding it. Because it wasn't announced the very next day or at the time of the incident?

edited 19th Sep '16 1:50:13 PM by LSBK

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#139109: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:47:35 PM

Clinton's health issue was short term, the Trump campaign has been lying for months that Clinton actually has some sort of severe longterm ailment despite there being no evidence of that.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
940131 Since: Feb, 2014
#139110: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:52:03 PM

[up]x2 Does Trump look sick? Apparently he's overweight, but he's not low energy. He goes to Mexico and Phoenix and Washington. He goes for so many interviews. Hillary collapsed. She's human. Humans get sick. She should have just said she was sick and she was going to take a few days off to get better.

edited 19th Sep '16 1:55:26 PM by 940131

DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#139111: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:54:15 PM

Libya at the time of the intervention was hardly what I would call "stable". It's not like Clinton just singlehandedly led an invasion of a peaceful if oppressive country, Iraq-style.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#139112: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:54:25 PM

[up]x3 Which is why I don't give Trump credit for saying (paraphrased) "I hope she gets better" when the news broke that she had pneumonia. You can't say the equivalent of "She's secretly terminal!" for months and then suddenly get to play the sympathy card. By then, your damage (by "damage", I mean feeding into the conspiracy theories) had already been done.

edited 19th Sep '16 1:54:33 PM by speedyboris

LogoP Party Crasher from the Land of Deep Blue Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Party Crasher
#139113: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:55:15 PM

I mean, lets be real here, she doesn't come across as the healthiest and most lively person around. And I can't really blame it on age because both Trump and Bernie are the same age and older (respectively) than her and come across as much more energetic.

I suspect it has more to do her personality. Or, at least, the cool, laid-back and professional image she puts on.

It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#139114: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:56:50 PM

The email scandal was not real. Like, the FBI investigated it, and discovered that nothing scandal worthy was going on there. Everything that wasn't perfectly by the book was standard operating procedure.

Also, I'm pretty sure saying she was sick and then taking a few days off to recover was exactly what she did do.

edited 19th Sep '16 1:57:52 PM by Gilphon

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#139115: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:57:03 PM

[up][up][up][up][up]Did you actually pull the "low energy" card? Really?

And Trump's health report hasn't been fully released yet, and if it is I wouldn't put it past him not to doctor it.

[up]The email scandal is a sign that departmental culture towards online security needs to adapt, it was hardly limited to Clinton.

edited 19th Sep '16 1:57:58 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
940131 Since: Feb, 2014
#139116: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:58:04 PM

[up]x3 They're both older. But that's a good point. Bernie's ancient, but he wasn't in poor health. Hilary had coughing fits. Again, there's nothing wrong with her being sick. She's human. But covering it up was a big mistake, because she already has transparency issues.

@Gliphon Only after she collapsed. I saw the video. Her aides tried to block people from seeing it.

[up] So even if he realeses his records, you're going to assume their fake? Look. They're both very old. Americans have a right to know if they're healthy and Trump should release his records. But the facts are that nothing indictes that Trump is unhealthy. Hillary has coughing fits and collapsed. In the Colin Powell E-Mail leaks he said she didn't look well and he's not working for the Trump campaign.

edited 19th Sep '16 2:07:57 PM by 940131

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#139117: Sep 19th 2016 at 1:58:04 PM

Why so many red states are turning blue - commentary

No real surprises here, but still,

Way back in 1896, Democrats nominated the whole populist package: William Jennings Bryan, an economic radical, religious fundamentalist and foreign policy isolationist. Bryan's candidacy turned off cosmopolitan America. He did well in rural America and the South, but lost the fast-growing, urbanizing and industrializing states that were attracting immigrants. Democrats nominated Bryan three times (1896, 1900 and 1908). Each time he did worse. Democrats became the nation's minority party for 36 years.

With Trump as their standard-bearer, Republicans may be inviting a similar fate. They are becoming the party of declining America. Democrats are becoming the educated cosmopolitan party.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#139119: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:22:39 PM

[up][up][up]Trump is borderline obese (at least), and has been prescribed drugs to control his cholesterol. This is by his own admission, but he still won't release his full physical report (unlike Clinton).

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/donald-trumps-health-summary-borderline-obese-at-236-lb-high-testosterone-good-golf-swing?__lsa=2e02-6000

But he went to goddamn Dr.Oz to release the details, which either means that he isn't taking this seriously or that a doctor who wasn't a hack would call him out on something.

This focus on health is pretty weird, FDR lead the US from a wheelchair, Bush senior puked into the lap of the Japanese PM, and Reagan may have been in the earliest stages of dementia while still in office. Clinton and Trump are fine by those standards, the former suffering from a common bacterial infection notwithstanding.

edited 19th Sep '16 2:25:27 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#139120: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:28:43 PM

[up]FDR is a bad example of this, I feel. He went to great lengths to hide the fact he had polio as long as possible and probably would've been made to resign or prevented from running for reelection had it been widely known.

Was he even still alive when it became known?

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#139121: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:31:10 PM

No, it was revealed sometime after his death. The fact that he managed to govern as president with more competency than the ones not in the know would've ever expected had they known he was suffering from that illness is a sign that such worries can very well be overblown.

edited 19th Sep '16 2:32:08 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#139122: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:32:34 PM

FDR was many things, but 'incompetent' wasn't one of them.

Any chances of a New New Deal?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#139123: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:33:09 PM

@Xopher

Huh. Well played. Didn't expect that. And man, that restraining order was a low blow. But yeah, this wont get much attention here right now because this thread's busy drawing lines in the sand. Cant wait till the storm passes.

edited 19th Sep '16 2:33:55 PM by nervmeister

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#139124: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:41:26 PM

What lines?

Also, good for the Sioux. Well done.

I'm only a bit shocked that they would make leaky pipelines to begin with. I had always wondered why exactly people didn't want those things around...

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
940131 Since: Feb, 2014
#139125: Sep 19th 2016 at 2:44:17 PM

Few people have had it worse than the Native Americans. I'm glad any time I see them get justice.

@Rational Insanity Claire Mc Caskill put it best. Trump and Oz are two con artists trying to sell each other snake oil. They're a match made in heaven. At the same time, I have to point out that you're contradicting yourself. You're saying that we shouldn't focus so much on health because of FDR. That's a fair point. However, at the same time you're focusing excessively on Trump being overweight even though he looks fine, and downplaying Hilary's coughing fits and that she collapsed in the street.

edited 19th Sep '16 2:50:20 PM by 940131


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