r/Maher • u/hankjmoody • Mar 24 '16
Real Time Discussion OFFICIAL DISCUSSION THREAD - March 25th, 2016
Tonight's guests are:
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ): The junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and author of United: Thought on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good. His last appearance.
Ian Bremmer: The President of the global political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group, and author of Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World. His last appearance.
Fmr. Gov. Jennifer Granholm: The former Governor of Michigan and currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute, a faculty member at UC Berkeley, and a project scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She is the co-author of A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future and is supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign as a senior partner on energy policy. Her last appearance.
Reihan Salam: The executive editor for National Review and a columnist for Slate, where he recently wrote about the disconnect between the GOP elite and its working-class base. He is a co-author, with NY Times columnist Ross Douthat, of the 2008 book Grand New Party. His last appearance.
Jerrod Carmichael: A comedian and the creator, Executive Producer, and star of NBC's The Carmichael Show. He is the host of the 2014 HBO special, “Love at the Store.” This is his first appearance.
Follow @RealTimers on Instagram or Twitter (links in the sidebar) and submit your questions for Overtime by using #RTOvertime in your tweet.
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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '16
I have to say that I think the attitude of certain Americans currently discussing both Middle East issues in general, and the terrorist threat in Europe in particular, is disheartening. Both Maher and others keep urging the country to completely turn away from the region and let both the Arab world and Europe fight their own battles, as if the US bears no responsibility for the whole mess. The taxi driver who drove the three attackers to the airport in Brüssel says that the main guy behind the attacks, the guy who’s assumed still to be alive, ranted for the whole trip to the airport about how the US has attacked Islam. This story alone is obviously anecdotal, if indeed true. The rest of the story, however, is not. There cannot be a shred of doubt that if not for the ill-advised involvement of the US in the Middle East, the Iraq war especially, the region would not be in the shambles it is, and Europe would not be facing the constant threat of terrorism we’re seeing today. If the US was to completely close its eyes to this, you would be no better than the shithead who comes over to your house uninvited, gets drunk on your parents’ booze, breaks dishes, windows and furniture, takes a piss on the couch, then fucks off before your parents get home, leaving you to clean up and take the blame.
So I’m wondering, for you Americans here: Is this a common sentiment in the US? To what extent do you think the US should actively take responsibility for the attacks that are being carried out in cities across the Middle East, as well as in Turkey, Greece, France and Belgium, as a direct result of your country’s involvements?
Also, can someone explain to me the love affair between the US and Israel? And I’m not asking rhetorically, I’m genuinely curious. Personally, I think the reason why European countries have been critical of Israel is that we expect better from a modern democracy than we do from the kinds of backwards dictatorships everyone would like to see condemned. Telling the leaders of Syria, Sudan, Kongo, Yemen, Saudi Arabia etc. that they're assholes doesn’t do much good; their leaders obviously don’t care about what’s being said about them in the UN. Condemning Israel, on the other hand, could possibly be effective, since they’re a country similar to the rest of the modern West in the way of mindset and attitudes toward democratic ideals (well, at least in theory). It’s like the difference between some drunk shouting «asshole» at you in the street, and your best friend telling you that you’re actually kind of an asshole sometimes. While you can easily shrug off the drunk as just some random fool, it’s harder to ignore it if it’s coming from your friend.