Good news and bad news

[mme_hardy]

It turns out Leonard Cohen actually died Monday, and the family kept it quiet until Thursday, presumably to mourn in private. That means he didn't have to deal with the election results. (Source: an interview with his biographer in the SF Chronicle.)

I read in the morning paper that Trump wants to ally with Russia and Assad to end the Syrian civil war, leaving Assad in power.

Comments

[cofax7]

I'm surprised he gives a damn about the Syrian civil war at all, except I guess because it might spill over and threaten US access to middle east oil. It's certainly not because he wants to protect the Syrian people -- there's going to be a(n even worse) bloodbath if Assad retakes full control.

I seriously don't think we should be involved in Syria, because US involvement always ends up being military, and we're great at blowing shit up and crap at helping rebuild afterwards. When do we send peacemakers and mediators?

Which reminds me: what are the chances they'll shut down the Peace Corps, do you think?

[mme_hardy]

They don't have to shut it down, they just slash the funding and tell them to do more with less. It's worked before. Did you see Peter Thiel has joined the transition team and will be vetting appointments?

I'm coming out of my post-election numbness and it's awful.

[ckd]

Trump doesn't care about Syria, but Putin does. (Mediterranean access avoiding Turkey.) Trump just goes along.