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Comment by cluckindan | Hacker News Reader

Well, now that the US has a War Department, and its Secretary of War Hegseth is publicly stating they are not going to defend but attack, one would assume US troops are going to be doing some pilfering in South America.

Again.

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I think he said something along the lines of bringing back the “warrior ethos,” and the US has been losing since Vietnam. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but can’t imagine anyone having voted for this and related policies when they talked about bringing down the price of eggs.

I think whatever the surveys said, the egg prices/inflation actually had little to do with Trump victory and the left shouldn't be misled by this. People vote now for emotional reasons, reasons of identity, and these rational reasons are mostly cover--something you tell a pollster but not the real truth. Take note of anyone you know who gave this reason and see what they say about 6 months of manufacturing decline, slowing job growth, or about the inevitable inflation from tariffs...I bet most defend it in some way.

The right is now split into a faction that rejects foreign interventions and wants to withdraw, if not total isolationist then something in that direction, and another faction. At the elite level this other faction is ascendant. The lesson they have drawn from US military failures from Vietnam to GWOT is different from the former faction. In their view the problem is that we were not aggressive enough, we were too constrained by overly legalistic and conservative rules of engagement and various ideological goals which polluted the prosecution of the wars and prevented us from "winning". They DO want a more cruel, more aggressive force posture. They admire and defend Israel in large part because they see it as a model of a force which really believes in "winning". A substantial portion of the voter base is attracted to this, enthused by the prospect of aggressive campaigns in Latin America with relaxed rules of engagement, and sees the renaming to Department of War as a "based" declaration of this doctrine. The country is moving more in this direction and the more isolationist (kind of "Buchananite") wing is getting purged again, but with some concessions made to them.

I am not sure the left has any answer to this right now because it has discredited itself with so many, especially losing a lot of younger men (those under 21 heavily favor Republicans), and generally the country may simply be moving in this direction. I think be clear eyed what you are facing.

Everyone knows that it was not really about the eggs. I think in this thread it was used as sarcasm.

Many actually do not seem to know this, especially in the political/think tank class. There are highly placed Democratic officials who blame inflation and point to this research.

It was about the eggs but also immigration and men in women's private spaces and sports. Identity wasn't a big factor although everyone in high places and their bots work hard to make it so. We shall see.

The problem with trying to read things into the results of the 2024 election is that they’re totally in line with a global thrashing of incumbents that occurred that year. Incumbents in the US actually did better than the average.

Humbly, I think this thinking is part of the problem. The incumbents were crushed because they mostly all copied each other and are seen as part of the same system. There are Western parties which have behaved differently and were not crushed. It wasn't just a meteorological event.

This spectrum of political doctrine is also about to run the US economy into a very rough recession that I don’t think will be undone until Trump and his ideas get the boot from politics in some meaningful way.

It’s going to be a bad time real quick

"We're going to go on the offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality," Hegseth said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-orders-return-us-war-...

I'm in South America. I see electric BYD everywhere and not a single Tesla. The same in SEA. Your theory could explain something. Force 'em all to purchase Tesla instead of BYD.

In Singapore there is a mix, but BYD seems to be a growing quickly - just anecdotal

I would assume they’re going to ”go after the cartels” in the sense that they aim to take over their very lucrative clandestine operations.

> Well, now that the US has a War Department

I thought you were joking. Wtf.

Via a POTUS flourish that has no legality ..

(Congress established and must approve any DoD changes)

Such actions are increasingly common and remain effectively unchallenged, stalled all the way to a compliant SCOTUS that falls in line rather than be ignored should they rule against.

Approved or not, the 1973 War Powers Act gives the executive branch the power to deploy troops wherever and whenever for 60 days + 30 days to bring them back, and the only legal fence is that Congress must be notified within 48 hours of said deployment.

Give US forces 48 hours of free reign in Venezuela and they will set the world on fire. Coupled with the right framing by the right reporters, Congress will give near unanimous approval for further escalation.

World War seems nigh inevitable at this stage. Better prepare to hunker down in that bomb shelter: refresh your stock of rations and gear up for the long haul.

Besides attacking litter and underbrush in the capital?

> Well, now that the US has a War Department

That was the department's name for 150 years.. until doublespeak became popular in the 1940's

Thank FSM and His Noodly Appendage that the current administration is entirely, utterly, completely, irrefutably, 1000%, 1400%, 1500% against doublespeak!

after they are done pilfering North America?

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