Benedict Miller

@naplestheartist I’m glad it wasn’t just me. Bought one at a rest stop recently while traveling and the thing was minuscule.

Auntie Anne’s pretzels have gotten smaller. No one is safe from shrinkflation

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Oh? And who would stop them? Congress? Do you think Congress operates on base sentiment? The military? Not likely. An angry mob? Public opinion seems to have little bearing. Most Americans oppose the war. Hatred has nothing to do with it.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis I never said that the elites wanted it for that reason. The base tolerates it and online larpers here cheerlead for it because of that hate. The admin wouldn't have gotten away with flagrantly starting another unpopular ME war otherwise.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis You would say this about any Muslims, as shown by your reply below, and I don't care if you're right. A Muslim fighting in their own country isn't my concern. It isn't yours either since you don't complain about most of them, but Hezbollah gets singled out for an obvious reason.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis I would say that’s more of a problem with the American political system than whether one has any reason to hate Hezbollah. So it doesn’t help your argument.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis A bunch of Jewish donors or arms manufacturers would be unemotionally pursuing their best interests by encouraging the Iran War. That doesn't help the rest of us at all, much less the "no more regime change wars" crowd.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Assumes that hate caused the war and no other political or economic considerations. A naive position.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis Then hate away. The hate's irrational and the Iran War shows that it leads to catastrophic confusion in policy priorities for no benefit.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Again, irrelevant to whether Hezbollah itself should be hated. And those donors are hardly taking their positions based on mere sentiment. Do you people able to amass such wealth operate purely on emotion?

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis He's mentioned Hezbollah plenty of times himself before and during this war. If you're arguing that he's captured by donor interests, then sure. I'm saying that this base then allowed this to happen because they were whipped into an anti-Hezbollah, anti-Iran frenzy first.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Again, a completely different question. And one with faulty premises. It is rational to hate many things that are no direct threat. And, again, hate does not equate to wasting energy. It is mental categorization.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis You can hate whatever you want personally; I'm not here to stop you. I will argue that facing no threat from Hezbollah means holding no rational reason to hate them and waste energy hating them.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis You have made no case for the logic of your position. Trump is rewarding his donors and political allies. I doubt he cares much for Hezbollah one way or the other. And within the administration, he is in control. That has nothing to do with whether Hezbollah should be hated.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis Not a distinct question and not illogical. We're watching the Trump admin falter day by day due to this occurring. Hate for Hezbollah was used to further the hate for Iran, and now America's entire political focus is shifted away from hating its domestic enemies.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Again. Not the topic. We are talking about whether there is a reason to hate Hezbollah not whether they are a threat. Also, I notice you didn’t answer the question. Why insist on holding two conversations at once?

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis As I said, DC's angry at banks for helping Hezbollah launder its own money to avoid DC sanctions. That doesn't harm me or the wider West, and so Hezbollah's contacts outside Lebanon aren't a threat and aren't our problem.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Again. Distinct question. Also illogical. Should we hate nothing outside of immediate political concerns?

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis People struggle to focus on multiple big political projects at one time. If they get kicked up into a hatred of Hezbollah, then that's sapping energy from other concerns for no gain to us. We get removal of "criminal aliens" rather than mass deportations, edgy tweets rather...

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Now you have completely changed the topic. The issue is whether one has a reason to hate Hezbollah, and I say there is. The issue of whether to expend funds in certain ways in response is a distinct question.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis When that hate walks us into a catastrophe like the Iran War, my fears are well-founded. Look at how the online right justifies this shitshow. "Hezbollah" has been typed a million times since it started, while the domestic agenda is left to rot.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis They operate through shell corporations and criminal contacts with proxies in the banking system. I never said they were looting your investment account. Stop shifting goal posts. Why do you insist on having two conversations at once?

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis "Subverted banks" how? Are we talking about Canadian banks being sanctioned for "helping fund" Hezbollah by processing Hezbollah's own money? They aren't looting my investment account. DC is mad at banks that do business with them.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis This is logically incoherent. One can hate a plethora of things with ease. It does not take energy to do this. I can hate Hezbollah and note there are more pressing concerns. No energy lost whatsoever. You are conflating hate with wasting resources.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis The question is why we're asked to waste energy hating Hezbollah when they aren't a threat and there are plenty of other Muslims closer to home. Hating everyone in a purity-spiral is foolish in our current position. I didn't say they'd definitely emigrate.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Clearly you don’t. Otherwise you would not be making a case for an organization like this. Your conception of how they operate is very limited. They have subverted banks in Europe and Canada.Are you seriously taking the position that it is ok as long as they are simply thieves?

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis I don't see where they're doing that. I'm sure they have contacts in the Lebanese diaspora for fundraiaing and the like. That's not a mass immigration plan, and they're not the ones maintaining these diaspora communities in the first place.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Now we are shifting goal posts. The question is whether they should be hated. Not whether they are a threat. One can hate something that is not a threat. Your understanding of Lebanese politics is flawed. If Hezbollah were defeated, the Shia have other options in Lebanon.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis Hezbollah's objectives are to stay active in Lebanon and exert pressure on Israel by doing so. There's a far bigger threat of Shias flooding the West if Hezbollah loses than if they win; they aren't a threat to me.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis As I have told you before, Hezbollah is not simply fighting to stay in Lebanon. They are a complex organization with a political, economic, and military structure. Their rank and file do not leave for obvious reasons, but they send quite a few dependents to the west.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis If they aren't attacking us and aren't mass-immigrating (again, Hezbollah is fighting specifically to stay in Lebanon), then they aren't a threat. Shia lobbies aren't the ones buying out Congressional seats or parasiting off our welfare system.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Do you think that is what Hezbollah is doing? If it were simply a matter of being left alone they would have not drawn any ire. They would not be distinct from the Shia tribes. Again. If we were talking about other Muslim groups, I could wax poetic. But that’s not the topic.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis I understand your point, but hating Muslims who are fighting to stay in their own regions is a waste of energy. And when we don't see this vitriol against Myanmar jihadists, the RSF in Sudan, or other such groups while constantly hearing about Hezbollah, it's annoyingly obvious.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis I do not recall mentioning they were attacking anyone. Shia’s generally don’t. They feed off of ignorance of their operations to siphon resources from governments and economies. Simultaneously, they take part in the subversion of local democracies alongside Sunnis.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis I cannot think of a single Shia terror attack in the West within the last 20 years. A google search would probably dig up a few, and probably linked to something retarded done by Israel, but they ultimately aren't the Muslims mass-flooding and killing us.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Do you think Hezbollah do not take advantage of the international economic system? That they send no one into western countries via immigration? Every, and I mean this sincerely, every Shia coming into a western country from Lebanon is potentially in collusion.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis We're not talking about hating random Myanmar jihadists, though. There are plenty of Islamic groups across the globe, and we're not exactly in the position for a worldwide crusade. So my point is again that I have no reason to hate Hezbollah who are fighting in their own nation

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis I agree. Israel’s opinion of anything should have no real bearing on your opinions outside of disinterested observation. But I am advising you that there are plenty of reasons to hate Hezbollah otherwise. Does not mean you should give aid dollars to Israelis. Those are distinct.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis I'm not asking for aid packages to Lebanon or whatever. What I originally said was that Israel's desire for us to hate them is not a reason to actually hate them. There are plenty of Muslims at home to worry about.

@DewFanatic97 @JadeAtrophis Oh? Is your assumption I find other Muslim groups peachy? Perish the thought. If we were talking about them, I could go on at length. But that is not the topic of conversation. You say there is no reason to hate Hezbollah, outside of Zionism. I argue that there is plenty.

@MillerKamon @JadeAtrophis "They're bad people" and "they cause suffering" are statements that don't advance any discussion. What specific policy are they harming me with? We don't the online right bare its fangs against other random Muslim groups. Only Israel's enemies get jingled in front of us.