war on a chessboard

I guess you can define war however you like,  I tend to include chimp skirmishes because I think whatever is causing that is not too far from the motivations of like WW II.

I recall the Mouse that Roared, it  was kind of a big deal when it came out,  Not every war ends up with a Marshall plan, which I think was instituted mainly to keep the vanquished nations from the soviet orbit.  Some time ago I read a fascinating book about dividing the spoils of WW I.  The victors were marching across this big map of Europe adjusting this border this way, that one that way.  The victors made out  pretty well and there was no Marshall plan for the defeated.

Rules of warfare are an interesting idea.  Remember how our bold forefathers defeated the red coats (they were wearing red coats for chrissake) by hiding behind trees and shooting at them, a sharp break with the Marquis of Queensbury of the day, and yet centuries later we are pretty smug about it. It would be nice if instead of actual armies we could each have a champion or a chess team and they could fight and that would decide the winner of the war,  So many fewer dead people so much money not lost.  And you could set the terms you were disputing,  It would be like which river is the proper border, and once that was determined the contest would be solely about  that unlike conventional war which happens over some piddly issue and ends with one country overrunning another and slaughtering the civilians.  It would be kind of boring though.  I am not sure that people would go for it,

Yeah those war on poverty things are pretty stupid.  How about tsars, remember how we would name people drug tsars and energy tsars?. Tsars, why did we pick that Russian nomenclature.


I agree that the media generally give us what we want.  They are businesses and they want to sell advertising and the advertisers want ratings,and I love a good scandal as much as the next guy. Celebrity scandals are kind of ho hum, but political ones have a tang.  Possibly because pols are always dressing themselves up in hubris and gravitas so that when the pie hits them in the face it is just more comical.

I hardly think that the alleged collusion of Trump and the Russkies has come to a dead end,.  I don't know what this Bryon York is smoking.

But he is right that it is the coverup that often does the politician in.  All Bill would have had to do was cry some crocodile tears and promise to never do it again.  But  he was such a magnificent liar that he couldn't help himself.  I'm not so sure about Nixon.  Most people hated Nixon and those who didn't hate him weren't crazy about him.  The anti Big Girl army was so virulent, so full of passionate intensity, that it didn't matter whether she confessed or told the truth.

I fail to see the distinction between killing people and killing people only if they get in the way of what you are trying to do.