Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines
before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules
when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I get why people are scared. Trump is an idiot. He's the kind of guy who, if given free rein, could get the USA into a fight with France let alone Russia. And there's certainly lots of ways this could go badly, get people killed, or otherwise damage the world.
But let's keep the "World War" talk to a minimum. Not just because it's not something anyone wants, but also because it's not even feasible. Russia can give the USA a very ugly fight in Syria. Russia can end the world by pressing the nuclear trigger. But one thing Russia cannot do? Is start World War III. The Warsaw Pact is gone, if what's left of the Communist Bloc has a leader it's China (and Russia, of course, is not Communist itself anyway), and Putin's best ally in the Middle East is in the midst of the civil war that this entire conversation surrounds.
Yeah, the absolute worst outcome here is a regional shooting war and even that is unlikely at this point. It’s not militarily or politically possible for this to blossom into WW3.
What will really happen is a few months of diplomatic sparring and then everyone moves on to the next crisis.
They should have sent a poet.All this talk about wars reminds me something Yahtzee said once in a game about war; he said something to the effect of "Let's just have ourselves a grand ol' war and have everyone just get it out of their systems." Makes you wonder if that's what some leaders today have been itching for.
Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.Two things: so far, Russia isnt claiming that they suffered any casualties (I read reports that the US was using military communication channels to ensure that the Russians could stay out of the way).
Second, its worth noting that we did not wait for the international inspection team to deliver a report on what happened in Douma (the US is claiming that it has proof that the Assad regime conducted a chemical attack there).
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.So it turns out that the President suddenly doesn't need Congress' OK to start bombing Syria after all.
◊
Well, he doesn't. The US constitution is very clear that a) a formal declaration of war needs to be done by Congress and b) the president is commander-in-chief of the US military, thus authorized to give operational orders. Cynical me says that c) there is some broad, blank-cheque like "national security" clause in US military law to the same effect.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman![]()
It was a comment on the trump tweet linked in the post, where trump said the president did while refering to Obama
Alex Jones apperntly started crying on air over this.... soooo....
edited 14th Apr '18 3:05:37 AM by Imca
Speaking of Alex Jones, from what I saw he's worried this'll cause World War 3.
Well if Alex Jones thinks so, it must be true!
I really want to say that essentially discredits the whole notion, but that would be a logical fallacy
edited 14th Apr '18 4:07:26 AM by Xopher001
![]()
The clips
I found on twitter are kind of hilarious actually. He's so personally betrayed by this, he actually starts crying.
Also this:
edited 14th Apr '18 6:21:46 AM by megaeliz

It serves neither of our interests to escalate things and thus one can safely assume that escalation is rather unlikely.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang