Intrade: 70.5% chance Obama will win third debate

[DaShi]

Hmm, thank you Lonestar. I should have trusted my instinct afterall.

[regexcellent]

It's telling that all the Zumwalts have been ****canned aside from those necessary for naval gunfire support.

[Aeson]

I'm confused. Why are people talking about China when Russia is our biggest enemy?

[Lonestar]

I'm confused. Why are people talking about China when Russia is our biggest enemy?

Russia is for people who want to bring back the bad old days of the Cold War and think we should get all up in their **** whenever they have a spat with their neighbors(that the neighbors usually started)

[regexcellent]

Lonestar, I'll be damned if I let you stand in the way of my mutual jack-off session with Tom Clancy.

[Zevico]

I'm confused. Why are people talking about China when Russia is our biggest enemy?

Lord. They're both enemies. They both pursue strategic goals that are deliberately designed to project their power and influence and undermine American power and influence with it. They view power politics as a zero sum game. Many Chinese have no idea of Tiananmen Square; many Russians do not understand why Stalin was an evil man. Unfortunately all we can do is adjust to that reality.

[Lonestar]

Lonestar, I'll be damned if I let you stand in the way of my mutual jack-off session with Tom Clancy.

Don't get me started.


You got me started.

The last good book Clancy wrote was Without Remorse and it was far and away the best book. His books largely became impenatrable tomes(a thousand goddamn pages before the shooting starts in The Bear and the Dragon!) afterwards. After The Teeth of the Tiger I resolved never to read another TC book, not even from the library.


The Clancy-verse is one where there's been nuclear terrorism and successful bioterrorism, but 9/11 is still the defining event for the US in the Early 21st century?

"Sure we have tens of thousands dead from a nuke and super-ebola, but 2000 dead in the WTC trumps that. Now is the time to send hitmen wandering around Europe. Go Ravens."

[Aeson]

Russia is for people who want to bring back the bad old days of the Cold War and think we should get all up in their **** whenever they have a spat with their neighbors(that the neighbors usually started)

... like Romney and Zev you mean?

[Lonestar]

... like Romney and Zev you mean?

Right; but China is the reason I'm expressing concenr about hull numbers in the USN, not Russia. If anyone thinks the USN would do **** all in a war with Russia(except as part of the inevitable general nuclear exchange) they are being silly.

China's geography, however, pretty much dictates that a strong and powerful navy is better for influencing them...rather than infinity billion infantry men sitting in Germany or entangled in open-ended nation building missions.

[regexcellent]

The Clancy-verse is one where there's been nuclear terrorism and successful bioterrorism, but 9/11 is still the defining event for the US in the Early 21st century?

"Sure we have tens of thousands dead from a nuke and super-ebola, but 2000 dead in the WTC trumps that. Now is the time to send hitmen wandering around Europe. Go Ravens."

See, the problem is that the Jack Ryan universe can't diverge too much from the real world or it becomes impossible to import real world stuff like F-22s and other cool toys into the books for the increasingly scarce military hardware porn. Or real-life stuff for villains and plot points.

I read Locked On which was pretty lol. Don't read it. It's stupid. And hilariously political. It's like that Star Trek movie where they have to transport a whale through time to stop a space monster from global warmifying earth. See, kids, save the whales or a space monster apocalypse will happen. Replace save the whales with "Re-elect Barack Obama" and the space monster apocalypse with some astonishingly horrible event of your choice, preferably involving Muslim terrorists and WMDs.

[regexcellent]

Right; but China is the reason I'm expressing concenr about hull numbers in the USN, not Russia. If anyone thinks the USN would do **** all in a war with Russia(except as part of the inevitable general nuclear exchange) they are being silly.

China's geography, however, pretty much dictates that a strong and powerful navy is better for influencing them...rather than infinity billion infantry men sitting in Germany or entangled in open-ended nation building missions.

It used to be a giant ****-off navy was for convoy protection from Russian planes and subs. More things I learned from Tom Clancy! When his books didn't suck.

Occupying China would be like drinking Lake Superior through a straw. Any kind of land war in China would probably be like that. There are like 1.5 billion of them.

[Lonestar]

It used to be a giant ****-off navy was for convoy protection from Russian planes and subs. More things I learned from Tom Clancy! When his books didn't suck.

Larry Bond wrote that book. Tom Clancys name was put on it for marketing purposes.

But 1980s USN was still geared towards super-duper power projection what with the 15 flat tops and all.

[Zevico]

... like Romney and Zev you mean?

You missed the part where you actually engaged with the argument. Ad hominem and bland speculation about motives does nothing to actually help understand the issues.

[Aeson]

You missed the part where you actually engaged with the argument.

Your argument is that escalating rhetoric with the Russians is a good idea. That idea has been "engaged" with properly ... with mocking laughter.

Ad hominem and bland speculation about motives does nothing to actually help understand the issues.

I am glad you have come around to the understanding that calling Russians names and speculating about their motives isn't going to help the issue. It takes a big man to admit you were wrong

[Tupac Shakur]

I positively cringed at "bayonets and horses" comment, and I'm cringing that there are a lot of people who think that this was a snappy retort.

QFT