President Trump ordered the firing of nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at Syria's Shayrat airbase late last week -- after letting Russia know first, of course, at which point Russia likely told Syria what was coming, which would explain how the Syrian government could get personnel and equipment out of the way before the strike. Our Congressfolk, naturally, have squeaked about Mr. Trump needing Congressional approval should he try to escalate matters, though he already acted without Congressional authorization, and thus without Constitutional authority, on Thursday night. I think Greg Grandin (first link) and Richard Clarke (second) are right to conclude that Mr. Trump's real target was his domestic opposition and that the strike was politically "symbolic," respectively -- though I might not have said "symbolic," but rather called the whole thing a drama, the kind Mr. Trump lives to create. And since it's a drama designed to neutralize Mr. Trump's real opponents (i.e., the American people), I think we should call our Reps and Senators and tell them that we oppose further Syrian attacks.
Meanwhile, at Legion of Doom Headquarters, the Turkmenistan government has imprisoned activist Gaspar Matalaev for six months now, and has apparently tortured him to get him to confess to various charges -- charges not including "filming forced labor in the nation's cotton fields," though he has done that, and there you may find the reason he's in jail, forced labor being unpopular among virtually everyone on Earth. And yes, Turkmenistan is yet another Eastern European nation that forces its citizens (including its children) to work the cotton harvest every year or face jail time; Turkmenistan also compels businesses to provide labor or its in-kind equivalent or face closure. And that, right-wingers, is what real government oppression of the business sector looks like -- please, no more silliness about how regulations are so oppressive, is that so much to ask? In any case, the fact that Turkmenistan does these things means they're a failing system, so the International Forum for Labor Rights helps you tell the government of Turkmenistan to release Mr. Matalaev. Because the Big Stick of Bad PR still works, even in these decadent times.
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