Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Canada and US Deserters - Part II

By BJ



I know I said a couple of days ago that I would have voted to deport American deserters like Corey Glass from Canada. If anything would change my mind on that, it wouldn't be his own argument, since I already agree with most of it and sympathize with him. Instead, it would be listening to pundits like Jonathan Kay explain why deporting Glass such a great idea:



Moreover, from a purely political standpoint, giving asylum to the likes of Glass would send a terrible message. It would undermine America's war effort in Iraq - even as Canadian and American soldiers fight side by side on another front in the war on terror, Afghanistan.

Given this shared enterprise, does Canada really want to cast itself as the protector of fair-weather American soldiers fleeing their duty?[Emp. added]



As I said previously, by running to Canada, Glass and his compatriots will be portrayed as little better than cowards whose objections can be ignored as mere rationalizations for their cowardice. Kay doesn�t disappoint.



The �purely political standpoint� is about all many Conservatives care about, and it isn�t about undermining the war effort, it�s about avoiding causing embarrassment for the Bush administration. You want to know what undermines America�s war effort in Iraq? Try the fact that Bush and his cronies lied through their teeth to justify the invasion.



And why keep tying the Iraq War to the Afghan mission? There is no surer way to increase Canadian�s opposition to the mission in Afghanistan than making it part of the highly unpopular Bush venture in Iraq. It�s like these guys want us to pull out.



No comments:

Post a Comment