19 Comments
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Centex's avatar

Interesting piece bringing together a lot of useful information, but the author’s repeated cartoonish characterizations of Republicans as wild-eyed, irresponsible xenophobes undercut the message he is trying to convey. A less partisan piece would have been more convincing and could have been taken more seriously.

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Brian Cox's avatar

Bombing Mexico sounds pretty irresponsible to me.

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Centex's avatar

“Bombing Mexico” is a gross oversimplification of Republican positions on this issue, but it fits right in with many of the assertions made in Tooze’s piece.

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Patrick Costello's avatar

You’re right, “bombing” is really a euphemism. What Republicans suggest would be much more bloody and destructive than that term conveys.

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Patrick Costello's avatar

No, he’s completely correct.

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Kyle Gavin's avatar

Latinx, seriously?

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Mike's avatar

Agreed! Here's wikipedia: Surveys of Hispanic and Latino Americans have found that the vast majority prefer other terms such as Hispanic and Latina/Latino to describe themselves, and that only 2–3% use Latinx.

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Stefano's avatar

Two comments:

1 AMLO is NOT a leftist. He takes this position when it is convenient, for example to show friendship to Lula showing independence from USA. He is a Mexican populist nationalist which means a return to the PRI which was the party that controlled Mexico for 70 years and which had some fascistic characteristics.

2 The whole discussion on USA recalls the decline of the Roman Empire. Attack here and there forever until the fall is inevitable.

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RC's avatar

“ ... Republican discourse disrupts this neat packaging with its lack of enthusiasm over Ukraine. But also with the disinhibited aggression which it directs towards Mexico.”

The fact that Ukraine is on the other side of the globe and Mexico shares a border, could be a factor in this disruption of the packaging, no?

The author also seems to lament that our constitution provides for dissent, even if the arguments/ideas sometimes seem a bit unhinged. I see over-the-top arguments as a feature, not a bug.

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Robert F Barry's avatar

Useful long view, and I offer two points with respect. First, the war party in the United States is on the left, not the right. Second, any president needs to have war plans in every direction. We've had plenty of wars with Mexico, and it would be rash to plan on the basis that there will never be another.

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Jennifer (recomended name)'s avatar

I love you Adam, but Latinx is not a term for serious people

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bill o'grady's avatar

I haven't been able to find any evidence that Mexico was ever a member of OPEC.

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michele surdi's avatar

mexican nationalism bad,ukrainian nationalism good.territorial langrabs,of course,depend on who's wearing the hood.

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T C A Raghavan's avatar

Excellent read on US Mexico. Especially instructive for us In India and South Asia who think there is no neighbourhood as hellish as ours!!

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eg's avatar

I'm glad you mentioned the abject failure of the US to address the most salient domestic feature of its drug problem -- that its own population is an apparently inexhaustible source of demand. Until the demand side is addressed, all of this flailing at foreign sources of supply is a dangerous performative distraction.

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Rich Door's avatar

Human beings are biologically predisposed to desire and become addicted to opiates. That part of the problem can't be addressed, at all.

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eg's avatar

So why isn't the rest of the world experiencing US levels of opiate addiction?

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Rich Door's avatar

We have an under-enforced southern border that is adjacent to a stateless zone controlled by international drug cartels, where no law of any kind is enforced. Pretty simple.

This is fully documented. We had an opiate problem caused by over-prescribing in the early 2000s, but that was a mistake of medical judgment that was being ameliorated, until cartels created networks to ship heroin directly to US small towns

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Nathan Boies's avatar

I am glad this topic is getting some attention. Our system can better manage and mitigate the drug crisis. States need to better realize their sovereign duty to treat but more importantly go after the local illicit drug infrastructure: the small businesses and asset owners that prey on locals and offer the conduit for interstate illicit markets. Without states being focused and responsible on their sector the federal role will probably always be chasing the problem. A castle strategy seems to miss the reality of our open markets.

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