January 17, 2016

Yes.

Did we not learn anything from the destruction of Saddam’s secularist Baathist regime in Iraq, which unleashed a bloody Shiite/Sunni civil war that gave birth to the madness of ISIS?[1]
Mr. Stockman is wrong to dismiss the Iranian nuclear weapon program. A nation sitting on that much oil, and that doesn't bother to develop any refining capabilities of its own to speak of, is just blowing smoke when it says it's developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. You don't have to have a working, miniaturized nuclear weapon for a tested, reliable, accurate, long-range missile rocket to attack the U.S. A dirty bomb involving only radioactive whatever and C4 explosive delivered in a Volkswagen bus can make New York or Washington, D.C. uninhabitable.

But for that, his article is worth reading for the insight he has into American overreach around in the world (and the bizarre chest thumping of Christie and Rubio at the last debate) and the deplorable failure of Republicans ever to make the obvious case for small government and an end to deficit spending and ruinous borrowing.

The world really can get along nicely without our "leadership" and, if any other nation wants to pour money down the drain by supporting a huge military and basing it around the world, let it. The Soviet Union is missed by few but now that it's gone there's only a tenuous case for our being the "world's policeman." What is out there against which we must "hold the line"? The case against Putin is just C.F.R. neocon garbage and neither Syria nor any of the other "threats" to something or other whom we have done our best to destroy in recent decades have posed any kind of a threat to us, with the possible exception of Iran.

Iran's a repulsive regime and its leadership spouts the 12th imam stupidity so jury out on that one. But . . . as long as our idiotic official view is that "Islamism" or "radical" Islam are our enemy, I'm skeptical of approaches that demonize Iran or appease it. If we're going to talk about anything Islamic, let's talk about the overall problem: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the absurdity of having Muslims living in the West. Whatever Iran is, it's a part of all that. All or nothing. As it is, the Treason Class piecemeal us to death about Assad the Butcher and other fairy tales utterly lacking in perspective and without foundation in history or practical politics in the Muslim world especially.

Whatever it is that we're doing overseas, it's clear it's taking place behind a curtain of lies. The U.S. is no longer a representative republic but, what's worse, the would-be elites clearly have no clue about what they are doing. All of this -- lies, stupidity, betrayal, and incompetence -- needs to be laid out on the table for public viewing. As Stockman points out, however, don't look for any Republicans to bring up hard issues in this presidential campaign.

Except Trump.

Notes
[1] "The Warmongers’ Brawl -- How The GOP Is Deserting Free Markets, Sound Money And Fiscal Rectitude." By David Stockman, 1/16/16.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know we can depend on Trump. I mean look at all the great leaders and polices that NY has produced in the last thirty years. I mean if only New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Detroit could lead the nation, think of where we would be!

By the way it took Carter to create today's Iran, Clinton to create a nuclear North Korea, and Obama to make them look good.

Sorry but I don't trust trump. I mean a man who could suggest Brown as VP? Really why not pick someone with some balls like Biden?

Col. B. Bunny said...

The epicenter of liberal, foreign, homosexualist, or subversive thinking and activity is in high-population areas or university towns. It's probably a fact that NY, SF, and Detroit (and the carbon copies thereof) do lead the nation, worse luck. Maybe there's a correlation between sympathy for revolutionary communism and concentration of Starbucks stores. I'm on it!

Those were stellar accomplishments on the part of Carter and Clinton but I hasten to point out that they were from Plains, Ga., and Hope, Ark. which are not exactly in the megalopolis category. That could undermine your theory of urban perfidy. :-) No one is sure where Obama is from so all the data are not in as of this moment. Djakarta is a large city. Just saying.

I didn't know about Brown. I supported him when he first ran and if he seemed insufficiently passionate on restoration of the Constitution, limited government, and immigration (I don't remember much about his record) I figure he had a very strange walk to walk in liberal Massachusetts. It seems only fair to take that into account. Insufficient passion on those issues covers all other possible VP (and dog catcher) choices with the exception of Cruz whom I like but who I also believe is not a NBC.

Perhaps you can be more specific about your objections to Brown?

I don't think Biden is without balls but I don't know that he is unusually blessed in that department either. I just don't know. I do respect him for not having become a multi-millionaire while in Congress. I believe that was a choice on his part and not an accident. I know little about him. I do think he would be a bad choice for his "happy hands" around women to whom he is not married.