Our chickens coming home to roost
Dionysus
HEAD: 2009 Chickens and Their 2010 Roost
By Victor Davis Hanson, classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution,
Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How
the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War."
In the coming year, plenty of our chickens will be coming home to roost.
Take foreign relations. In 2009, the new administration assumed that George
W. Bush was largely responsible for global tensions. As a remedy, we loudly
reached out to our foes and those with whom we had uneasy relationships.
But so far these leaders -- like Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuela's
Hugo Chavez and Russia's Vladimir Putin -- have only interpreted Barack
Obama's serial goodwill gestures as weaknesses to be exploited. They play
the part of the pushy class bully, we the whiny nerd.
In the waning days of 2009, Iran has announced it has no intention of
dismantling its nuclear facilities and ignored the latest Obama deadline to
cease. There's no reason not to expect the theocracy to make significant
strides in its nuclear program in 2010, while continuing without rebuke to
beat and murder democratic dissidents in its streets.
Russia has announced plans to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons -
and scoffed at our polite suggestions that it should pressure Iran to stop
its nuclear development.
Venezuela brags of its own similar program to come -- an act that could
threaten all the neighboring democracies in the region.
The administration courted China on a much-heralded Asian tour. President
Obama even has said he would be our first "Pacific president."
Unfortunately, China was not impressed. It declined our advice about
reducing its carbon footprint and instead reminded Americans that we owe the
Chinese people nearly $1 trillion. Expect much more of that hectoring in
2010 as our debt to China grows.
Consider also the threat of Islamic terrorism. In 2009, some in the Obama
administration decided "war on terror" was too provocative a label for what
might be better dubbed "overseas contingency operations." Apparently, they
were thinking a kinder, gentler image would discourage terrorists.
Accordingly, the self-confessed architect of Sept. 11, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, was promised a civil trial in New York rather than a military
tribunal normally accorded to out-of-uniform murderous terrorists. Expect a
lot of soapbox speechmaking about America's sins during his testimony in
2010.
As part of our efforts to break with the Bush anti-terrorism past, President
Obama also vowed he would close the facility at Guantanamo Bay by Jan. 22,
2010 - another deadline that won't be met.
But as 2009 ended, we were reminded that radical Islamic terrorists still
want to kill us for who we are, and what we represent, rather than any
particular thing we do.
Maj. Nidal Hasan, nursed on radical Islamic doctrine, murdered 12 fellow
soldiers and one civilian at Ford Hood, Texas. Five would-be terrorists with
U.S. citizenship were arrested in Pakistan on their way to link up with
Islamist militant groups. And Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was stopped in
flight from Amsterdam before he could blow up an American passenger jet.
Note that all these recent terrorists were not poor, lived in the hospitable
West - and cared little that the Obama administration has been critical of
the U.S.'s prior war-on-terror policies.
So, while we assured the world in 2009 that we wouldn't be overzealous in
our various efforts to stop terrorists, the terrorists proved they most
certainly would be in theirs to kill us.
Meanwhile, at home we operated on the same naive assumptions. The Obama
administration inherited a $500 billion deficit and expanded it threefold.
Its planned mega-deficits may well grow the aggregate national debt over the
next decade to over $20 trillion.
But the administration's 2009 calculations on how to service the growing red
ink are based on continued cheap interest. Yet in 2010, it is likely we will
see rising inflation, rising interest rates - and rising costs to the
continual self-destructive borrowing.
We were given a financial break on energy prices in 2009. The worldwide
recession sent oil down to about $50 a barrel. But America did little during
the year's reprieve to rush into production newly discovered domestic gas
and oil fields, to tap existing finds in Alaska, or to license new nuclear
plants.
By year's end, oil was creeping back up to $80. If the economic upswing
continues, in 2010 it may near its old high of nearly $150 a barrel. Soon we
will wish we had done something concrete in 2009 rather than offering more
stale rhetoric about wind and solar power.
In other words, 2009 may seem to have ended relatively quietly. But in our
foreign relations, in the war against terror, in our massive borrowing, and
in our energy policies, we created chickens that soon will come home to
roost in 2010.
*****************
Sure wish we had had a man like President Reagan in charge, instead of this
boy who's now hangin' with his homeys in Da Honky Crib in Da Hood (formerly
The White House).
"The picture emerging from the White House is a disturbing one, of timidity,
clumsiness and short-term calculation. Some say he is the weakest president
since Jimmy Carter." --Edward Lucas
"Obama is like the dog that caught the fire engine. Now, that he's got it,
he doesn't know what to do with it." --Lt. Col Ralph Peters (Ret)
Happy New Year.
No Surrender!
Dionysus
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
<no.sur...@never.net> wrote:
>FROM REAL CLEAR POLITICS
>
>HEAD: 2009 Chickens and Their 2010 Roost
>By Victor Davis Hanson, classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution,
>Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How
>the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War."
>
>
[ Nothing of any consequence or value snipped. ]
This article proves two things:
1. The number of degrees you have strung behind your name does not
translate into intelligence, logic, or reason on your part. In a lot
of cases, "PhD" means only "piled higher and deeper."
2. Every single situation that the author cites is nothing more than
foreign affairs as usual. He clearly does not understand that, no
matter who the American president is, other nations will do what they
want to to to further their own interests.
Not that you rightwingnutters are smart enough to understand that the
world does not operate in a simple, linear fashion.
*FisherKing."
news:jhlpj51uup67e1gd4...@4ax.com:
Dennis operates as if the world should look like an Ayn Rand novel,
totally unrealistic as to how the world actually operates. This is part
of the the ultraconservative's rigidity in the face of fluid reality.
--
"The better educated a person is, the less likely it is that person will
be a conservative."
"Reagan proved deficits don't matter"
Dick Cheney
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it
is true that most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill
[When Bush and the GOP controlled the government six years ago] �it
was standard practice not to pay for things�We were concerned about
it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question.�
zzbu...@netscape.net
The rightards are even smart enough to know what linear is
that's why DSP and HDTX was even developed. They aren't smart
enough
to know what post battleship coding is, so that's why gps and
drones were developed.
They aren't smart enough to know what Post Fortran Flip-Flop is
that's why USB and Desktop Publishing was developed.
They aren't smart enough to know what what non Von Neumann
Self-Replicating Machines are, so that's why Rapid Prototyping was
developed.
They aren't smart to know what to know what laser disks are,
so that's why DVD-rom and Blue Ray were developed.
They are smart enough to know what what non AT&T Optical Computers
are,
so that's why Atomic Clock Wristwatches were developed.
They aren't smart enough to know what post watt gas turbine engines
are,
so that's that's why Phalanx was developed.
Patriot Games
<PopUl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:47:13 -0500, "Dionysus"
><no.sur...@never.net> wrote:
>>FROM REAL CLEAR POLITICS
>>HEAD: 2009 Chickens and Their 2010 Roost
>>By Victor Davis Hanson, classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution,
>>Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How
>>the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War."
>[ Nothing of any consequence or value snipped. ]
>This article proves two things:
Was Hanson ever BANNED FOREVER by Google?
Nope.
Were YOU ever BANNED FOREVER by Google?
Yep!
Hahahahahahha!!!
On Sun, 8 Mar 2009 18:12:42 -0400, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"
<oldre...@hillbilly.net> wrote:
>"Patriot Games" <Pat...@America.Com> wrote in message
>news:l1g8r456rl58mhbpn...@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 8 Mar 2009 14:08:46 -0700 (PDT), "Kickin' Ass and Takin'
>> Names" <old_r...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Does this look familiar:
>> "This account has been banned because it violated the Google Groups
>> Terms Of Use."
>> Hahahahahahahahahah!!!
>> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!
>So why am I still posting??
Because you're using:
From: "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names" <oldre...@hillbilly.net>
Google BANNED:
From: "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names" <PopUl...@hotmail.com>
HHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Go here then click on "View Profile"
Or go here then click on "View Profile"
And you'll get: "This account has been banned because it violated the
Google Groups Terms Of Use."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!
====================
You're the PROVEN Fraud. (Not me...)
You're the PROVEN Liar. (Not me...)
And NOW you must wear the ASSFUCKED BY GOOGLE banner because TRULY IT
IS A FACT that YOU were PUBLICALLY BUTTFUCKED by Google, YOU were
PUBLICALLY URINATED ON by ME, and YOU get to wear THAT STAIN FOREVER!
There are ONE BILLION Internet users who KNOW NOW that YOU WERE
PUBLICALLY BUTTFUCKED by Google!
There are ONE BILLION Internet users who KNOW NOW that YOU WERE
PUBLICALLY URINATED ON by ME!