Here’s a view from an ancient Calusa shell mound overlooking Tampa Bay.
If you squint really hard, you can just make out the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background. Open thread.
Florida woman, still rocking a punk rock ethos in the 2020s, which is kind of sad. Betty Cracker has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2012.
This post is in: Open Threads
Here’s a view from an ancient Calusa shell mound overlooking Tampa Bay.
If you squint really hard, you can just make out the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background. Open thread.
by Betty Cracker| 196 Comments
This post is in: Black Jimmy Carter, Open Threads, Politics, War, War on Terror aka GSAVEÂź
Now the most famous peanut farmer of all weighs in on President Obamaâs ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State strategy:
“[Former President Jimmy] Carter said it was hard to figure out exactly what President Obamaâs policy is in the Middle East.
âIt changes from time to time,â Carter said. âI noticed that two of his secretaries of defense, after they got out of office, were very critical of the lack of positive action on the part of the president.â
âFirst of all, we waited too long. We let the Islamic state build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,â he said. âThen when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didnât object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.â
“We waited too long” may only apply to making the current strategy work, but absent that context, the implications are distressingly neo-connish: Does Carter mean the US should have gone into Syria with guns aâblazing as soon as ISIS reared its psycho head? Should we have SURGED MORE in Iraq? Carter doesnât say, but it sounds like he may be in the tank for Hillary. (I kid!)
Carter sees some hope for the current American policy against ISIS in Iraq where troops on the ground will follow up after air strikes.
âIf we keep on working in Iraq and have some ground troops to follow up when we do our bombing, there is a possibility of success.â
No such ground troops are available in Syria at the moment, he said.
âYou have to have somebody on the ground to direct our missiles and to be sure you have the right target,â Carter said. âThen you have to have somebody to move in and be willing to fight ISIS after the strikes.â
Iâm pretty sure he doesnât mean American ground troops, so I think the âpossibility of successâ he refers to is pretty much exactly what PBO is trying to achieve, i.e., providing air support and hoping the various players on the ground get their shit together enough to oppose the crazies. Itâs a chump bet if you ask me, but no one did.
Also, Carter thinks drone strikes on Americans abroad are unconstitutional, that the oppression of women is the most pressing human rights issue on the planet and that Republicans are still tooting the same shopworn dog-whistle they first pressed to their moist, pursed lips in 1964. I think we can all agree the latter sentiment is true.
by Betty Cracker| 151 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I’ve got nothing but inchoate rage and depression that can best be expressed as blaaaarrrgh!!!! — and who wants to talk about that? No one, especially me. So let’s look at these lemurs licking lollipops instead:
My god, are those lemurs cute! Open thread.
[H/T: Salon for the licking lemurs]by Betty Cracker| 150 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Assholes, General Stupidity
Here’s an ominous warning I saw in the ladies’ room of a small town tavern:
I’m 100% sure it wasn’t directed at me, which is a relief. Otherwise, I’d be skeert. What are ya’ll up to this evening?
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads
This post is in: Gay Rights are Human Rights, Open Threads
You want to get gay married there? That’s okay with the US Supreme Court:
WASHINGTON â The Supreme Court on Monday denied review in all five pending same-sex marriage cases, clearing the way for such marriages to proceed in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban.
I’m sure that’s an oversimplification of the decision to decline review, but this sounds like tentative good news? What say you, legal beagles?
Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and WisconsinPost + Comments (73)
by Betty Cracker| 137 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
This is a monster day for college football fans (see below). But here’s a playground for those who don’t give a rat’s ass.