A Fire Waiting To Catch

On the NDAA's passage, we recommend you read this comment by Reddit user Mauve_Cubedweller, because it makes a point that you might've missed the first time you read that the NDAA got passed.

shortformblog:

This is pretty basic political maneuvering and the biggest problem is that it almost always works because most people either don’t know or don’t care how their political system actually functions. The President was saddled with a lose-lose situation where he either seriously harmed American defense policy (political suicide), or passed offensive legislation knowing that it would cost him political capital. To all of you here lamenting that you ever voted for this ‘corporate shill’, congratulations: you are the result the Republicans were hoping for. They get the law they want, they get the weakened Presidential candidate they want. And many of you just don’t seem to see that. You don’t have to like your country’s two-party system, but it pays to be able to understand it so that you can recognize when it’s being used like this.

Much longer comment at the link, but the overall point Mauve_Cubedweller suggests: Republicans played a very clever political game, and made it look like Obama was at fault for the most controversial passages in a very large defense authorization bill, to the point that any softening of the passages didn’t matter, because, ultimately, he signed the bill. Do you buy this explanation?

(Kudos to radioinactivity for being quick on the upkeep for this one)

(via shortformblog)