if Charles Koch thinks things suck....

Charles Koch

The Russian attempts to subdue Afghanistan lasted the better part of a decade (1979-1989). Eventually, they picked up their toys and went home, not least because of U.S. support for the Afghan "rebels." The U.S. among others applauded the retreat of the godless communist horde.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2002 (after confecting a link between the 'terrorist' attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the somehow naughty Afghans) and still hasn't figured out a way to get out ... 14 years later. Will someone please tell me how the Russians should be dubbed the "dummies" in this scenario? Trying to subdue Afghanistan, for whatever purpose, has proven impossible over and over and over again. You don't need an Ivy League education to point this out.

But apparently an Ivy League degree is not enough to convince the policy-wonks and politicians in Washington. It is politically easier to sow fear -- let's have a war -- than to sow solutions ... and still people send their kids to 'elite' schools.

AP reported yesterday, "the White House has approved plans to expand the military's authority to conduct airstrikes against the Taliban when necessary, as the violence in Afghanistan escalates..." Translation: Inject new energy/troops/American blood into a flagging cause. If you can't sow peace, double down on war. It scares the shit out of people and a scared-shitless electorate is good for political longevity.

But wait.

Politics as usual may have taken a hit yesterday when Charles Koch, one of two "Koch Brothers" whom liberals love to lambaste for funding right-wing causes, announced that he was putting his money behind an "end the divide campaign." Koch's action accentuates the utter disarray of a Republican establishment that has painted itself into a pusillanimous and mean-spirited corner: If you ain't white and male and well-heeled, you ain't Republican. Koch said he was sick of the ad-hominem tenor of the political battleground and hoped there might be some issues both sides could discuss.

If Koch is doing this, things have got to be really bad.