So Neera Tanden is out. Thank goodness.

@MarkPaul You mean by recklessly spending on every war we're currently in like she's said we need to keep doing? Yeah, sure.

You're right about the republicans being nuts though. They fucking are.

@BlueMetalChick I think you are over-reacting and to despise her because of what you think she WOULD do is abhorrent.

@MarkPaul So, Neera Tanden has repeatedly said, and continues to say, that one of her priorities is to increase American presence in Afghanistan. For me to NOT take exception to that is abhorrent?

No, what's abhorrent is that you think it's perfectly fine to keep your own soldiers in a two decade long illegal invasion of a sovereign country, getting your own people killed, murdering civilians, and spending your taxpayers' money on it.

But by all means, feel free to tell me why those actions are acceptable.

@BlueMetalChick Well, look... killing is always wrong, but sadly when dealing with humans it sometimes becomes necessary. For harbouring terrorists, a sovereign country forfeits some of its sovereignty. That's just common sense.

It's easy (and lazy) enough to turn complex issues into black-and-white binary choices, but that really does a disservice to everyone, including you. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Neera Tanden has her own personal opinions as any individual does. She neither has the capacity to increase a presence in Afghanistan nor would she have had in the position for which she is no longer being considered. Maybe you don't understand how governments [i]actually[/i] work...?

@MarkPaul And harboring a long-dead terrorist justifies twenty years of illegal invasion? It justifies us violating our own Constitution? It justifies overriding the will of the voters? The Afghanistan War is the single most unpopular conflict in American history. The people want out. Republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians, socialists, everyone wants out. We've been sinking trillions of dollars into that war. And for what? Bin Laden is gone. There's fewer than one hundred Al Qaeda operatives left alive in the entire country. What is our goal? A war must have an objective that can be accomplished and thus won. How do we win? What are we trying to do?

Your argument is that the choice to provide shelter for Bin Laden gave reason to disregard the sovereignty of Afghanistan, at least to some degree. The reason why that argument might be accepted is that it would allow for something good to be done, in this case, the apprehension of Bin Laden for his crimes. What good could possibly come now from it though? Are we making America safer by continuing to fight a war there? I can tell you from my own personal experience that we're certainly breeding resentment against the United States.

She hasn't got that power now but putting her in the administration certainly would give it to her.

@BlueMetalChick Well, now you're just being silly and shrill. While textbooks have their proper place, trying to operate in life and the world stage by textbook ideals is not advisable... in my professional opinion.

One could reasonably argue that going into Afghanistan was wrong for the USA (or any other nation that has done so) to do. But, it's done. And with a shrug of the shoulders and a textbook rationale pulling out, lickety split, will cause that country to literally implode. There needs to be a staged withdrawal and that has nothing to do with Neera Tanden who has, for some random reason, become your villain for this week.

She [i]would[/i] fund wars; she [i]would[/i] abuse power; she [i]would[/i] be terrible... It's a good thing everyone getting ready for an interview doesn't have to first go through your psychic screening that would produce a report on what the candidate [i]would[/i] do without ever actually conducting any kind of [u]actual[/u] behavioural review.

@MarkPaul Ah, so constitutional law is a "textbook" and trying to operate by it is silly and shrill. Thank you for going on record saying you think it's a ridiculous idea to abide by our own laws. I appreciate you finally admitting it.

Cause Afghanistan to implode? What the hell is it doing now? War is raging on there. Do you really think we're helping anyone by being there causing conflict?

If you're saying we need to leave but like in small increments over the course of a few months, maybe a year, yeah ok. That's fine and all. But make no mistake that we need to leave and not keep a presence there.

You clearly haven't known me very long if you think she's "villain if the week." I've had a problem with her for a number of years. I post about it fairly often.

@BlueMetalChick Well, honestly I have never heard much of her until her name came up for this position. And, on record, her credentials and experience seem to make her qualified. It's a moot point now, anyway thanks to fringe radicals who are more interested in ideologue point-scoring than competent performance.

And, I'm not calling the Constitution a textbook or violating the law ridiculous. Instead, I am pointing out world affairs require attention that goes beyond isolationist dogma. It's curious to me that you present Allied forces being the sole or major cause of failure confronting Afghanistan. And, yes we are talking about a step-by-step withdrawal done in a methodical way instead of making a big splash with a detrimental outcome because it will make for a feel-good social media moment.

I'm just calling you out for attempting to turn Neera Tanden into a villain because she doesn't pass your purity test. I guess for you only certain women cut the grade.