russchesley.bsky.social
witless philosopher, techno junkie/skeptic, sociable misanthrope, cynic, cineaste, art & music lover, bibliophile, oenophile, living anachronism? he/him/his
452 posts
1,185 followers
1,775 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
By the way, the Geneva Conventions did not exist until 1949, but yes I do believe in them and in even more restrictive limits on "acceptable" warfare.
5/5
comment in response to
post
Singling out the US in 1945 is futile, and implying that Hiroshima and Nagasaki (wrong as they were) happened in response to an attack on a military base leaves out a lot of history.
4/
comment in response to
post
All wars are needlessly violent and cruel, all nuclear weapons are far too damaging to use, and all leaders should tread very carefully when the threat of war looms.
3/
comment in response to
post
Just ask the 14 to 20 million Chinese who died as a result of Japanese aggression. Or perhaps we consider the relative destruction of the Tokyo firebombing, which killed 100K and left 1 million homeless?
2/
comment in response to
post
I didn't say that it was OK.
But judging proportionate brutality and violence in wartime is tricky.
1/
comment in response to
post
What is wrong with you?
Israel is not killing more children than malaria or other diseases in 2025.
That in no way justifies Istael's actions in Gaza or anywhere else.
But the OP is simply not accurate. Stop contributing to the spread of misinformation.
comment in response to
post
This is funny, but I can't help feeling a vague sense of ageism in making fun of the mom's confusion.
Perhaps it's the mention of a specific age when such a detail probably wasn't necessary.
At worst, a micro aggression.
Still...
comment in response to
post
The bombings did end the war, but in retrospect, they came with too high a price tag.
The risk of nuclear war in Iran would make any rational president tread carefully. Unfortunately, Trump is not rational, so...
4/4
comment in response to
post
The thinking at the time was that the atomic bomb would so shock Japan that it would surrender without the need for a costly invasion.
No doubt, the willingness to employ nuclear weapons against Japan was informed by racism.
3/
comment in response to
post
Further, invading Japan to subdue it would entail an enormous cost in resources and lives for the exhausted allies if the Japanese fought as tenaciously to defend Japan as they had throughout the conflict.
2/
comment in response to
post
The war in the Pacific was particularly brutal, and the allies believed that Japan would not surrender, even when it was clear they would lose.
2/
comment in response to
post
I agree that Nagasaki and Hiroshima were both murder.
However, your characterization of them as disproportionate responses to an attack on a military base is grossly inaccurate.
1/
comment in response to
post
Israel is behaving abonimably, but it isn't the leading cause of child death.
No need to spread misinformation to support an otherwise valid argument that Israel's leadership is oppressing and killing Gazans in pursuit of ethnic cleansing.
comment in response to
post
Tapper does not understand the definition of priority, does he?
comment in response to
post
Yeah, yeah. But the real storyline that this order wouldn't last one meal for me...
comment in response to
post
I carry a special rock in my pocket to throw at ICE.
comment in response to
post
Riley Gaines couldn't carry Simone Biles' gym bag.
Biles exemplifies class.
Gaines exemplifies bigotry, carelessness, dishonesty, cruelty, opportunism, and a craven lust for the limelight.
comment in response to
post
Censured?! CENSURED?!!!
EXPELLED is the correct spelling.
comment in response to
post
Iranians are human beings and have a rich history and culture.
Palestinians are human beings and have a rich history and culture.
Israelis are human beings and have a rich history and culture.
Americans are human beings and have a rich history and culture.
Europeans are human beings and have...
comment in response to
post
That Trump supporters believe the bs spewing from the mouth of Trump's stuntes offspring tells the whole story...
comment in response to
post
Bad blood? BAD BLOOD?!!!
This piece of excrement should be expelled from the Senate immediately!!!!
comment in response to
post
What could go wrong?
comment in response to
post
First, a Senator in California. Now, a candidate for NYC mayor. Throw in political assassination in Minnesota, and I'm beginning to think that Trumpists don't really like Democrats...
comment in response to
post
3. I'd hope that Lefty populism would be more restrained than Trumpism, but any form of populism has a tendency to spin out of control or at least exceed its parameters.
The Founders feared populism, and anyone employing it should fully understand and be prepared for its volatility.
2/2
comment in response to
post
1. That was a joke -- what dad or mom would say when their offspring squabble.
2. Agreed! Only by pushing populist platforms (and candidates!) Will the Left ever have a chance to win. And populism has to be constructed and tested in the trenches.
1/2
comment in response to
post
Libertarians are the polar opposite of the Left on economics, and although socially liberal in terms of civil rights, they don't have a modern conception of social responsibility. They've never been more than a marginal party, despite having an outsized influence on conservative thought.
comment in response to
post
And yet there is no 3rd party for both moderates and lefties? What to do?
comment in response to
post
But the left can only drive the party if it harnesses populism, as MAGA did on the right. Even so, it will be a long fight, which the left has not shown much stomach for in the recent past.
4/4
comment in response to
post
And the structure of geographic representation has been so skewed that anything left of center faces an uphill battle.
Has the party failed its constituents? Absolutely, and the right seduced the alienated.
3/
comment in response to
post
The truth is that this country tilts conservative and fears the left -- social conservatives and evangelicals, along with big money, miseducation, gerrymandering, and propaganda drive that tilt.
2/
comment in response to
post
Children. Children!!! Stop fighting. I want to know who started it, and I want to know who brought the flamethrower!
If the left doesn't feel like the party can accommodate them, what is the best way forward?
1/
comment in response to
post
Psychopathetic...
comment in response to
post
JFC...
I was gonna say the GOP.
comment in response to
post
And sports programs always have to hold bake sales for travel money while music and theater programs get disproportionate support from school districts and sponsors.
You're either employing a straw man or simply uninformed.
Academia, and everyone else, does consider sport significant.
2/2
comment in response to
post
You're right! Sport gets no attention, scholarly examination,...or money!
It's those overhyped philosophy and anthropology stars getting all the multi-million dollar contracts, endorsement deals, media coverage, and fanbases.
1/2
comment in response to
post
...or up it.
comment in response to
post
Neither Newsom nor Bass has that power. The LA mayor has surprisingly little power of any sort, regardless of who is in office, and the governor has virtually no power over local law enforcement. LA county has the largest sheriff's department in the US, and it has long been out of control.
comment in response to
post
The mayor had no power over the sheriff in LA. He is an elected county official, not city. He can't be fired by anyone except the voters. Unfortunately, even with a good sheriff in office, the institutionalized racism is so ingrained in the culture of the department that it is impervious to reform.
comment in response to
post
If I wanted to live in Hell, I would move to Texas. It is outrageous for that second rate republic turned state to presume to send their jackbooted thugs here. Do they have a thug surplus down in TexAss? Aren't there enough immigrants down there to harass and oppress?
comment in response to
post
I close all of the media channels in my underwear as a matter of policy, and I do give in their pitiful cries for rocky road...
comment in response to
post
Mine has been a continuous loop of a Reznor/Ross soundtrack evoking bleak foreboding in some starkly isolated frozen landscape during a Fincher film...
Happy times!
comment in response to
post
How, exactly?!
comment in response to
post
If anyone's face ever exemplified punchable, it is Mike Johnson's.