Patterico's Pontifications

12/22/2014

“2014: You Are History”

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:51 am



[guest post by Dana]

A much needed humor break comes with JibJab’s annual look back at the asstounding year that was!

–Dana

30 Responses to ““2014: You Are History””

  1. Hello.

    Dana (8e74ce)

  2. I may have missed a post on Cuba but since I can’t find it anywhere, I’ll talk about it here.

    I think Obama restored relations with Cuba because he wants to close Guantanamo. This way he can leave the prisoners in Cuba without violating US laws that prevent him from returning the dangerous prisoners to their home nations. Instead, he can leave them in Cuba and let the Castro regime deport them.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  3. Implicit in my comment is that Obama will close Guantamo as a military base, something he has the power as commander-in-chief to do with any foreign military base.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  4. But, wouldn’t closing GITMO, for which we have a “99-year Lease” involve the changing of that lease/treaty and have to be run by the Senate for its ‘advice/consent’?
    Are there provisions within the GITMO treaty/lease allowing for the unilateral abrogation by the leasee of the lease?
    And, don’t we have to reimburse Cuba for use of the property, and wouldn’t we be required – as in most leases – to return the property to its prior/original state before leaving?
    If GITMO is abandoned, we will have effectively withdrawn from the Central Caribbean.
    What’s next: Korea?
    (Oops, can’t do that, we’re “pivoting” to Asia)

    askeptic (efcf22)

  5. How many unarmed black children will be killed in 2015 and how many cops will be killed in retaliation?

    2015 (6870dc)

  6. The US could give up its detention facility even if it decides to keep the naval facility on the leased property, but my gut says Obama will close the entire facility. It gets him points with the Cuban government and hurts American interests in the Caribbean. The only reason he wouldn’t do it is if the military flexes its muscles to stop him, something they do occasionally but not often.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  7. I think Obama would give up Taiwan before South Korea, if only because he doesn’t want a war on his watch.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  8. DRJ – there was a post on Cuba last Wednesday. It’s now on page 3 and doesn’t say anything about Cuba in the title:

    https://patterico.com/2014/12/17/obama-coddles-dictators-and-criminals/

    Then came the capitulation to North Korea, and the New York City police shooting, and there were some more on the conflict of visions and economics.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  9. Askeptic @4. I also thought there was a 99-year lease on Guantamano (which now had expired) , but Wikipedia told me there’s an indefinite lease since 1934, which terminates when the U.S. abandons the base, or when both governments agree.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  10. I think Obama restored relations with Cuba because he wants to close Guantanamo. This way he can leave the prisoners in Cuba without violating US laws that prevent him from returning the dangerous prisoners to their home nations. Instead, he can leave them in Cuba and let the Castro regime deport them.

    DRJ, maybe Obama is way ahead of us and he already plans to undermine Cuba by introducing elements of radical Islam to it. It would be kind of fun to watch Marxist revolutionaries undermined by Islamists; on the other hand, we would have the latest Jihadi state within 90 miles of our border.

    JVW (60ca93)

  11. DRJ, I’m a bit hazy on the subject, but I don’t remember us having any forces based on Taiwan, and if we withdrew the 7th(?) Fleet from the Straits, that might spark a real war as the PRC tried to annex the island.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  12. Under “International Law” a “99-Year Lease” (or whatever term we had) was/is considered a ‘lease in perpetuity’ and requires IIRC the assent of both parties to terminate.
    This was seriously hashed out following the Cuban Missile Crisis when Castro demanded the Navy abandon GITMO, and we – rightly – responded GFY!

    askeptic (efcf22)

  13. I opened up a Cuba open thread.

    Dana (8e74ce)

  14. 10- I’m sure Fidel, and his brother Raul, would deal with Islamists in their midst in the same manner as did Putin in Chechnya, and that wasn’t pretty.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  15. I’m sure Fidel, and his brother Raul, would deal with Islamists in their midst in the same manner as did Putin in Chechnya, and that wasn’t pretty.

    Good point. And if it were up to Obama he would accept the Cuban Muslims as refugees much as we accepted the Tsarnev brothers from Chechnya. Maybe it’s not such a fun prospect after all.

    JVW (60ca93)

  16. “Accept”?
    You mean there are people at the border screening immigrants?
    I thought all you had to do was just walk in!

    askeptic (efcf22)

  17. DRJ,

    I don’t know about Taiwan proper, but Taiwan still holds some small islands (Quemoy and Matsu) which sit a few miles off the coast of Xiamen, Quanzhou, China. In the 1950’s the US defended Taiwan’s hold on them resolutely and JFK’s failure to reiterate our commitment to the islands was a point of contention in the debate with Nixon. Apparently, Ike threatened to go nuclear if the Chinese invaded.

    Sidelight: The first use of air-to-air missiles was by about 30 ROC F86 fighters vs about 100 PRC Mig 15s and 17s. Somehow the ROC got a large batch of the new US sidewinder infrared missile, which worked very well indeed allowing the outnumbered ROC forces to win handily.

    But, back to point, I am willing to bet that if the PRC wanted those islands today, they could take them without the US doing anything but scolding.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  18. This Jib Jab video is too fast paced. I think they are repeating themselves too casually. They need to give each element a little bit more time, or more time between elements. I think the whole length may be shorter. All the people who died are seen together. You can’t absorb it.

    And why is only one Malaysian Airlines plane mentioned?

    There are few good things.

    I think the best one was 2012, with the Mayan voice, which ended not with “Have a happy 2013” but “Have a 2013”

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  19. Who’s not famous anymore?

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  20. Nobody has told me yet who is not famous any more.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  21. Again, again – who’s not famous any more?

    Sammy Finkelman (d542b2)

  22. shia labeouf

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  23. When was he ever famous?

    It turns out I did hear of him.

    This is the person who staged an exhibit where he stood stock still. A woman came along, and, not wanting to break character or break his vow, he stood still as she raped him.

    Sammy Finkelman (d542b2)

  24. hello???

    how bout a trigger alert next time buddy

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  25. how’s the stalkerdoodle, Pikachu,

    narciso (ee1f88)

  26. Trigger alert #1:
    Sammy, let’s say somebody, doesn’t matter who, wanted to stage an exhibit like that, where could he do it?

    Trigger alert #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdrUW–Jic

    nk (dbc370)

  27. she hit a low point a couple days ago when she sent a text asking me if i was getting her texts

    but i ignored her until she called me here at work this morning and was all “you’re alive!!”

    and i was like yup

    then she asked why i was ignoring her texts

    it’s all becoming very meta

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  28. do you really need to work with this person?

    narciso (ee1f88)

  29. not as much as she seems to think but more than I’d like I guess

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  30. Jib Jab missed the drop in half of the price of oil (and the Russian ruble) in 2014, but we all woke up to it too late.

    Sammy Finkelman (d542b2)


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