A Perfect Nightmare
Let's blame the black guy!
"The World is reaping what Obama helped sow."
"The World is reaping what Obama helped sow."
New York Daily News Editorial, 6/17/14
WHAT THE FUCK???
The topic of that editorial was the latest catastrophe engulfing Iraq. It was titled (GET THIS!) "What Obama Wrought". It's a jolly good thing that I wasn't sipping my coffee when I happened upon it, otherwise I would have spit it out all over the computer screen. What was all-the-more galling is that nowhere in its contents was the name "George W. Bush" referred to - not even in passing! What are they smoking over there at the News? Whatever it is, it must be triple-laced with hallucinogenics. There is no other explanation for their eye-popping lack of insight. Or are they merely lying to us? That's a distinct possibility. There's a lot of lying going on these days; have you noticed that? If, by the remotest of chances, you happen to be as clueless as the editorial board of the New York Daily News, here's a brief history lesson for your enlightenment:
"Bring 'em on!"
George W. Bush
What is happening now in Iraq is a nightmare eleven years in the making. In fact, it was predicted. At the time, most of the experts on the subtle (and not so subtle) nuances of global politics knew that the centuries-old conflict between the Shiites a the Sunnis had been kept in check by Saddam. It's bound to explode in our faces if he were suddenly out of the picture, we were warned. The naysayers were described as unpatriotic lefties by Fox Noise and the right wing scream machine. Keep voting Republican.
It has long been obvious that the illegal invasion of Iraq was a huge, tragic mistake of generational proportions. Sixty, even seventy years from now (maybe longer) the president of the United States - who more-than-likely has not been born yet - will still be dealing on a daily basis with the criminal incompetence of the Bush Mob. This is the legacy that these murderous assholes have left for posterity. Over forty-five hundred Americans - and untold numbers of Iraqi men, women and little children (the precise number will never be known) - died in vain.
The Republicans, long aware of the enormity of that error, have seized on this moment to pin the blame of Iraq's inevitable failure on Barack Obama and the Democrats. Will they succeed? Yeah, they probably will. In 1950 the president of Boston University, a man by the name of Daniel Marsh, predicted that America was destined to turn into "a nation of morons" The guy was prescient.
The prez is being condemned by the right wing media (you know which ones I'm talking about) for pulling us out of Iraq. What the hell was he supposed to do? How long were we expected to stay there: a thousand years - as has been implied by Dick Cheney with a straight face?
Time to face some unfortunate facts, campers: Iraq is broken, non-fixable - and we broke it. Come to think about it, "we" is a misnomer. I was never naive enough to cast my vote for a half-witted nincompoop like George W. Bush. I sleep quite soundly at night thank you very much.
With each passing year, it will become more and more obvious - gut-wrecnchingly obvious - what a complete and dreadful mistake it was sending those people to the White House thirteen years ago. With each passing year the ramifications of that mistake will be compounded. Isn't life strange?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
 |
| Robert Greenwald |
Hijacking Catastrophe
a film by Robert Greenwald
Mr. Greenwald's EXCELLENT documentary about the incompetence and corruption of the Bush Administration's incursion into Iraq is one of the most informative - and disturbing - films dealing with this nasty subject that I have ever seen. If it's not for sale at your friendly, local, independently-owned video store (C'mon, there must be one left!) you can pick it up cheaper-than-dirt from Amazon.com:
Hijacking Catastrophe
Robert Greenwald is a national treasure.
SUGGESTED READING:
Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America
by Molly Ivins.
What can I say? Molly was as good as it gets - or is ever gonna be I imagine. I miss her more than words can express. Her take on Dubya is hilarious.
.jpg) |
| At the Goshen Plaza parking lot |
This photograph was taken less than a half hour ago. It is my first (and last, I promise) "selfie". Do I really look this disreputable? Maybe it's the focusing. I don't know about you but I would never pick this guy up hitchhiking - not in a million years, Buster!
posted by Tom Degan @ 7:30 AM
69 comments
69 Comments:
Now that Iraq is having a three way civil war and the chaos could spread to the whole middle east, Glenn Beck has said "The Liberals were right, we should have never gone into Iraq" !!!
The next admission by the Conservatives, which will take a few years, is that Global Warming is real and man made.
Hey Tom, you left out the fact that the Iraqi Government told the US to remove it's military forces in 2011. No matter what the tea-publican wing nuts want people to believe...
Obama should have drawn a red line in the sand, some where, like he did in Syria, that would have prevented all of this. For sure.
The First lady should have tweeted a picture of herself holding a sign telling ISIS to "stop right now!"
Kind of like she did to recover the kidnapped girls, "we want our girls back". How did that work out?
The only war the Obama administration wants to wage is the war on our borders, coal, immigration laws and NFL teams. If you think the price of oil went up under GWB, you haven't seen anything yet.
Interesting how blame Bush card being played ignores the votes of Senators and Reps supporting his action in Iraq. Action based on intel from Clinton administration.
But can not blame the Black Guy, because we knew he had ZERO experience for the job when we hired him. It's much easier and much more political correct to blame the white guy who has been out of office for 6 years
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
I said it before ans I will say it again, ANYBODY who voted for the Iraq war should have been removed from office.
Chuckie wants us to know what Al Gore said, but not all of what he said. That figures, doesn’t it? The Great Deceiver would be proud of him.
What else did Al Gore say? Chuckie won't tell.
Was he really agreeing with Bush, and cheering on an invasion of Iraq?
No. Chuckie is just being dishonest in suggesting this falsehood. And that is what he is suggesting.
Here it is in context:
We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.
We have no evidence, however, that he has shared any of those weapons with terrorist group. However, if Iraq came to resemble Afghanistan – with no central authority but instead local and regional warlords with porous borders and infiltrating members of Al Qaeda than these widely dispersed supplies of weapons of mass destruction might well come into the hands of terrorist groups.
If we end the war in Iraq, the way we ended the war in Afghanistan, we could easily be worse off than we are today. When Secretary Rumsfield was asked recently about what our responsibility for restabilizing Iraq would be in an aftermath of an invasion, he said, “that’s for the Iraqis to come together and decide.”
Wow. A completely different case is made. No wonder Chuckie needs to cherry pick and deceive, just like the Bush Cartel did before invading Iraq. Liars love their fellow liars, don’t they?
Then there’s this:
Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power. Moreover, no international law can prevent the United States from taking actions to protect its vital interests, when it is manifestly clear that there is a choice to be made between law and survival. I believe, however, that such a choice is not presented in the case of Iraq.
There you go.
Let’s cut to the facts of Bush’s lies, war and spineless Democrat support.
Surprise! It turns out MOST Democrats opposed it.
Iraq War Resolution support from Democrats:
House 82 Y – 126 N
Senate 29 Y -21 N
Total Dems supporting resolution - 111
Total Dems not supporting resolution - 147
Total House Republicans not supporting resolution – 6
The House passed the resolution 296-133
Total Senate Republicans not supporting resolution - 1
Ever wonder what the world would look like of only the Right told us what was going on? Horror and death would ensue, like it has, and will again.
It is good we have a sharp Liberal to present ALL the facts here.
Just like the Civil Rights act of 1964 would not have passed without the votes of Republicans the authorization to go to war against Iraq would not have passed without votes from democrats.
Tom,
Your captions to the two photos starting this post, are you saying democracy is bad and dictatorship is good?
Your selfie, what are you so unhappy about, r do you always look angry?
James,
"ANYBODY who voted for the Iraq war should have been removed from office"
Would you expand that to include anyone still in office or again running for office?
Anybody, then and now!
Anonymous, do we REALLY have to explain to you AGAIN about the civil rights act and the aftermath? How the racist Southern "Dixicrats" who opposed it became REPUBLICANS? And how the Republicans who voted FOR it would now be considered "RINO's" and "too liberal"? ONce more you tell the 10% of the story that suits you and leave out the relevent facts that don't. And what does the Civil Rights act have to do with Iraq anyway?
PLease stop deflecting and TRY to keep your eye on the ball OK?
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members...
It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well, effects American security.
This is a very difficult vote, this is probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Any vote that might lead to war should be hard, but I cast it with conviction."
Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat, New York)
Addressing the US Senate
October 10, 2002
Mozart,
Do you believe everything Dave Dubya says? Your claim is purely hypothetical. You have no way of know what republicans of 1964 would be called today anymore than you can prov. You can only guess,
James, 58% of Democratic senators (29 of 50) voted for the resolution.
That means you would not be voting for
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE) our current V.P. Did you vote for him in the past 2 elections?
Breaux (D-LA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carnahan (D-MO)
Carper (D-DE)
Cleland (D-GA)
Clinton (D-NY) Could be the Democrat candidate for President, will you vote for her?
Daschle (D-SD)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Edwards (D-NC)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hollings (D-SC)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Miller (D-GA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Reid (D-NV) WOW!! is this guy ever two faced.
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Schumer (D-NY)
Torricelli (D-NJ)
Democrat congressmen who voted for the war in Iraq
Gary Ackerman, Rob Andrews, Jim Barcia, Ken Bentsen, Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Sanford Bishop, Rod Blagojevich, Bob Borski, Leonard Boswell, Rick Boucher, Allen Boyd, Brad Carson, Bob Clement, Bud Cramer, Joseph Crowley, Jim Davis, Peter Deutsch, Norm Dicks, Cal Dooley, Chet Edwards, Eliot Engel, Bob Etheridge, Harold Ford, Martin Frost, Dick Gephardt, Bart Gordon, Gene Green, Ralph Hall, Jane Harman, Baron Hill, Joe Hoeffel, Tim Holden, Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, William Jefferson, Chris John, Paul Kanjorski, Patrick Kennedy, Ron Kind, Nicholas Lampson, Tom Lantos, Nita Lowey, Ken Lucas, Bill Luther, Stephen Lynch, Carolyn Maloney, Edward Markey, Frank Mascara, Jim Matheson, Carolyn McCarthy, Mike McIntyre, Michael McNulty, Martin Meehan, Dennis Moore, John Murtha, Bill Pascrell, Collin Peterson, David Phelps, Earl Pomeroy, Tim Roemer, Mike Ross, Steven Rothman, Max Sandlin, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Ronnie Shows, Ike Skelton, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Charles Stenholm, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Gene Taylor, Karen Thurman, Jim Turner, Henry Waxman, Anthony Weiner, Robert Wexler, Al Wynn
ANaonymous, I don't have to take Dave's word for anything IT HAPPENED. Johnson even said it after signing the bill "We just lost the south for a generation"
Turned out to be a few and counting.
The GOP of today is NOTHING Like the GOP of the 60's. Hell, REAGAN would be too "liberal" for todays Republicans. THEY JUST VOTED OUT ERIC CANTOR!
While the KKK was formed by Democrats in the 1800's, NOW racism is deried by liberals and while not all Republicans are racist, if you ARE racist you are more than likely a Republican.
And how many times do you have to be told that Dems voted for the Iraq war based on LIES told to them by the Bush administration?
Jeez man, the "Bubble" must be particularly thick (or you are)where you are concerned.
Just keep on presenting arguments that have been shot down years ago. That makes you look REALLY smart.
So you believe every thing LBJ told you?
Define racist.
Give example of republican who is a racist.
How many times do you have to be told the "lies" Bush told were intel from the Clinton Administration.
There were democrat members of Congress into this century who belonged to the KKK.
Who acts racist towards minority Republican members of Congress, minority members of the Supreme court, minority conservatives, republicans or democrats?
Yes Anonymous, I believe things that history has shown to be true. I do NOT believe thngs Fox news says, and thus I do not believe YOU.
ONE racist Republican? Too easy.
IT'S YOU.
Why else would you constantly WHINE about Obama? You spend all your time digging for scandals that don't exist, and all you do is WHINE here.
Nice try on the Dem KKK stuff though.
James makes an excellent point. There are too many Democrats to count who are culpable in this mess - Hillary Clinton in particular.
How many times do you have to be told the "lies" Bush told were intel from the Clinton Administration.
Does that include Bush' claim, "We found the biological labs"?
Show us the Clinton Administration intel that said Saddam had ties with al-Qaeda. Show us the Clinton Administration intel that claimed a meeting of Iraqi officials and al-Qaeda in Prague. Show us the Clinton Administration intel that said Saddam had aluminum tubes for a nuclear weapons program. (This was in Bush's State of the Union Speech)
Crickets...Right.
How many times do you need to lie?
Pretty hard to say "we found the biolabs" was a lie used to convince people to vote for the war, since the war was already going on.
"In the 4 years since inspectors left, Intel reports show that Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical & and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability & his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorist, including al Qeada members."
Hillary Clinton 10/10/2002
2002 minus 4 is 1998. Who was president in 1998? Why it was Mrs. Clinton's husband, Bill. Whose Intel was she talking about, why it was Bill's Intel!
End of story
Well said, Mr. Degan, and I already know what your right wing fans will be saying as they try to blame Obama by ignoring history and renaming everything to suit themselves.
Bush was the disaster as a president and his first real choice in choosing Cheney was a sample of the disaster awaiting Americans. It was worse than any of us guessed no matter how much we were horrified he ever got chosen-- and that first election was chosen.
History said what we see now would happen based on what had gone before. Bush Sr. knew it and it's why he wasn't about to own Iraq.
Now the ones who ignore history are listening to Cheney as he tries to put this all on Obama. If only Obama had been willing to have our sons and daughters still there to be slaughtered. If only he had been wise like Bush and cut taxes further to give us an even bigger debt.
And then the righties list off Dems to blame. Yeah, we have our share of bad Dems. But we don't defend them or their decisions.
I was against the invasion and spoke against it. This nation was hell bent to go in there and use their war toys. Nobody who argued with them could get them to listen. A boat load of money was just waiting to be raked in. Those like Cheney probably did given his share of Halliburton.
So Cheney once again renames this as Obama's disaster when it was Rumsfeld, Bush and himself, who created it with help from the oblivious Powell.
Hussein held power in Iraq by brutal methods. Looks like it's the only way it will be held. The US could give training, give weapons ($20 billion worth) but we could not change hearts and make those there want what we thought they should. We could not end generations of hate between Sunni and Shiite. Anybody who thought we could is probably a Neocon and ready to send someone else's kids this time to go die. It's ironic how many of those who love war forgot to fight their own and sure don't want their kids in the next ones.
And the worse part will be if we get Hillary Clinton as the Dem choice, she wins, and shows us how much she is like Margaret Thatcher. Anybody, who doesn't think some women will choose wars to show they have balls, hasn't paid attention to history.
Pretty hard to say "we found the biolabs" was a lie used to convince people to vote for the war, since the war was already going on.
Lame distraction, Chuckie, but revealing.
Nobody made that claim about that lie. And thank you for indicating the lie was NOT Clinton intel.
You just contradicted your own lie. Thank you.
Hillary was wrong, and she was not in the Clinton Administration. And most relevant of all is only one person lied AND started the war.
Bush.
Ever hear of "Curveball"? Why don't you tell us about him and his "Clinton intel"?
More crickets.
And this Bush lie:
"...we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him."
The facts are Hans Blix and his team of inspectors reported no WMDs, and Iraq was cooperating with inspections. They were pulled out so Bush could start his war for crony profit and political capital.
What about Blix's most current and accurate intel? Ignored, of course.
End of story
No. We are still paying tax dollars for that war. Veterans are still being treated, or sadly not treated, because of that war. Like the consequences of the Bush financial collapse, the story of Bush's destruction of Iraq continues, and will continue.
And so will your lies, and your belief in lies.
Better blame the black guy, right?
Anyone who thought Iraq would be a stable democracy whether we stayed 2 months, or 20 years, is nuts.
Yes, one must consider anyone who voted to give Bush permission to invade Iraq has a serious lack of judgment and should not be seriously considered for elective office. Yes, that includes any Democrat.
"Time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir. You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators. You said the insurgency was in its last throes back in 2005, and you said that after our intervention, extremists would have to 'rethink their strategy of jihad.' Now, with almost a trillion dollars spent there, with almost 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?"
That's right, Megyn Kelly
Above Kelly quote was to Dick Cheney.
"But we don't defend them or their decisions."
Really?
I haven't seen any attacks on Biden Reid, Rockefeller, Feinstein, Schumer,
Kerry, Cleland or Waxman by democrats. Maybe you could direct me to were I could find them since you dont defend them?
Anonymous, what does it take to get it through your thick skull (as well as the conservative bubble you live in) that the dems agreed to the Iraq war based on LIES told by Bush and his merry men?
You might as well ask why there are no stars in the Moon landing photos, or why, if Man evolved from apes there are still apes.
All questioins are similar in their stupidity.
Islamist militants in Iraq have taken over a military complex containing a stockpile of old chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's era.
The US State Department said that they believe jihadist fighters with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) will not be able to make any use of the material seized at the Al Muthanna complex as it is too old, contaminated and difficult to move.
"We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible to safely move the materials," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the Wall Street Journal.
Iraq Isis Seizes Saddam Hussein Chemical Weapons Al Muthanna complex
Psaki however added that the US remained "concerned about the seizure of any military site by the Isis."
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the Al Muthanna chemical complex "was the principal manufacturing plant for both chemical agents and munitions during Saddam Hussein's rule."
The facility, located in the desert some 80km northwest of the Iraqi capital, was used in the 1980s to produce and store chemical weapons, reportedly including Sarin and Mustard Gas.
"Iraq used these weapons during the Iran - Iraq War (1980 to 1988) and against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988," the British MoD said in 2012, announcing it was to provide training to Iraqi personnel to dispose partially destroyed chemical munitions and agents stored there.
Stockpiles of weapons and the complex's ability to produce new material were severely hampered by the two Iraqi wars.
Related
"The majority of the Al Muthanna complex was bombed during Desert Storm, completely incapacitating Iraq's chemical weapon production capabilities, however, large stockpiles of chemical weapons and bulk agent survived," a 2004 CIA report read.
Obama sends troops back to Iraq to help the battle against branch of al Qeada, who he said we had on the run.
Liberals blame Bush.
Mozart try for once not to be the parrot puppet of Dave Duyba and think for your self.
Read the quote from the presumed democrat presidential candidate for 2016, Hillary Clinton that she made in 2002.
Do you have any clue what you are trying to get across with your latest gem?
"You might as well ask why there are no stars in the Moon landing photos, or why, if Man evolved from apes there are still apes."
Is that some kind of code?
Jeez Anonymous do I have to explain EVERYTHING to you like you are a five year old?
YOUR ACCUSATIONS ABOUT dEMS VOTING FOR THE WAR HAVE BEEN DEBUNKED A LONG TIME AGO, JUST LIKE THE QUESTIONS i USED AS EXAMPLES.
And it is just as STUPID.
And I have no connection to Dave other than we both speak the TRUTH as opposed to the Fox news talking points you keep regurgitating as if they haven't been debunked already.
sked if he had any “regrets” about not leaving a residual force in Iraq, Obama advised reporters to “Keep in mind, that wasn’t a decision made by me. That was a decision made by the Iraqi government.”
Back in 2011, Obama proudly touted the small number of troops remaining in Iraq as one of his foremost accomplishments. “When I came into office,” he boasted at the time, “I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. As Commander in Chief, I ended our combat mission last year and pledged to keep our commitment to remove all our troops by the end of 2011. To date, we’ve removed more than 100,000 troops from Iraq.”
In 2011 and 2012, the news was rife with triumphant quotes from Obama about the withdrawal: “After nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.” “Change is turning the page on a decade of war so we can do some nation building here at home.” He even announced that he and Maliki were “in full agreement about how to move forward.”
But at a press conference Thursday, Obama suddenly sought to distance himself from the withdrawal: “We offered a modest residual force to help continue to train and advise Iraqi security forces. We had a core requirement which we require in any situation where we have U.S. troops overseas, and that is that they are provided immunity,” he explained. “The Iraqi government and prime minister Maliki declined to provide us that immunity.”
Here's some Truth for you Mozart
So? BIg deal. He does what he promises to do and you whine. He takes suggestions from conservatives in a effort to compromise and you whine. It doesn't matter WAHT he does you are going to whine. Maybe you should move to Wisconsin so you will have access to enough cheese.
Here's some truth for ya.Bush crashed the economy. It recovered under OBama. Or world position crashed under Bush. It's improved under Obama.
Smoke that.
I blame Carter fro the mess in the middle east. He's the one who turned his back on the Shah or Iran which was the start of this current mess.
"He does what he promises to do"
If you like your Dr you can keep him, if you like your insurance plan you can keep it.
Sure he keeps his promises.
Blame for the mess of Islamic extremism goes back further than Carter. One could make an argument that when Eisenhower and Dulles concocted the plan for the CIA to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953, that was the real genesis for the headaches the world suffers from at present.
Two in three Americans disapprove of President Barack Obama’s handling of immigration, according to a new Gallup poll.
At 65 percent, the disapproval rate is the highest that Gallup has reported since the group began polling on the subject and is up 10 points since August 2013.
Blame Bush, but don't blame the black guy.
America's involvement in the Middle East started before IKE.
"The Middle East was at the center of the Truman Doctrine, which gave subsequent presidents ample, and arguably excessive, justification and latitude to intervene militarily around the globe."
"Harry Truman is singlehandedly responsible for our current foreign policy and the entire mess in the Middle East. Harry Truman was the idiot responsible for bringing us into the United Nations, endangering our sovereignty more than any enemy could, and establishing the CIA, a tool which was used under Truman to overthrow an elected government in Iran, which got the ball rolling for our involvement in the Middle East. Without the CIA that Truman helped create, Al Qaeda wouldn't even exist. Without the UN, Israel wouldn't exist. The Middle East would be stable today and we wouldn't have this ridiculous foreign policy that is destroying our currency."
"American interest in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East more broadly did not die with Roosevelt. His successor, Harry Truman, was just as eager to “open the door” to the Middle East. A 1945 memorandum to President Truman written by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs in the U.S. State Department, Gordon Merriam, stated: “In Saudi Arabia, where the oil resources constitute a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history, a concession covering this oil is nominally in American control.” Adolf A. Berle, one of Franklin Roosevelt’s closest advisers, particularly in relation to the construction of the post-War world, years later remarked that controlling the oil reserves of the Middle East would mean obtaining “substantial control of the world.”
"In a 1948 State Department Policy Planning Paper written by George Kennan – the architect of the ‘containment’ policy toward the USSR – it was explained that following World War II, America held 50% of the world’s wealth, yet had only 6.3% of the world’s population, a “disparity [which] is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia,” thus, destined to create “envy and resentment.” The real task for America, then, wrote Kennan:
is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction."
According to the above views, we can't blame Bush, we can't blame Carter, we can't blame IKE. We should be blaming Harry S. Truman for the current problems in the middle east!
Note that the above all happened under democrat Presidents, worshiping at the foot of their manna, oil and wealth. Right now I don't know what Obama's policy towards the middle east is, and wonder if anyone else has that same problem? There seems to be no standard, no defining position, no line in the sand, that the factions in the middle east will not cross out of fear of the USA's response. There does not seem to be a declared national interest that is consistent from one crisis to the next. If there is no national interest at stake in the middle east, then why are we sending troops back into Iraq?
Wondering if I will now be accused of blaming the black guy and whining about the black guy, instead of starting an adult conversation about the history of how we got here? Or is blaming Bush THE only "adult" response to be expected in response to dealing with historical facts from today's democrat and liberal?
We can blame the west for a lot of the Middle East problems. They drew national boundary lines and often interfered in their world.
That is historical fact.
Another historical fact is Bush's military aggression triggered what we see in Iraq. I'm happy to blame the black guy for his actions, but destabilizing Iraq and the economic collapse happened under Bush. Period.
Biden had it right. Let them draw their borders of their desired ethnic and cultural divisions.
Would you agree then, that Carter removing the USA support of the Shah of Iran destabilized them, which lead to the holding hostage our embassy staff in Iran and later the war between Iraq and and Iran? Except for the wars between Israel and it's Arab neighbors, I can recall any conflicts in that region before Carter.
I still dont understand if there was no national interest in the events that have taken place since our troops were withdrawn from Iraq (Arab Spring, Egypt, Libya, Syria) why are we sending troops there now?
If al Qaeda is on the run, as the President said, then what has happen since that claim was made?
Interesting that Biden would say that considering that he voted for the War in Iraq. I guess a little time line of when he said that would help clear things up.
Would you agree then, that Carter removing the USA support of the Shah of Iran destabilized them, which lead to the holding hostage our embassy staff in Iran and later the war between Iraq and and Iran? Except for the wars between Israel and it's Arab neighbors, I can recall any conflicts in that region before Carter.
I still dont understand if there was no national interest in the events that have taken place since our troops were withdrawn from Iraq (Arab Spring, Egypt, Libya, Syria) why are we sending troops there now?
If al Qaeda is on the run, as the President said, then what has happen since that claim was made?
Interesting that Biden would say that considering that he voted for the War in Iraq. I guess a little time line of when he said that would help clear things up.
If al Qaeda is on the run, as the President said, then what has happen since that claim was made?
You mean after Bush made that claim, so did Obama?
Would you agree then, that Carter removing the USA support of the Shah of Iran destabilized them, which lead to the holding hostage our embassy staff in Iran and later the war between Iraq and and Iran?
NO.
From Britannica:
Opposition to the shah himself was based upon his autocratic rule, corruption in his government, the unequal distribution of oil wealth, forced westernization, and the activities of Savak (the secret police) in suppressing dissent and opposition to his rule. These negative aspects of the shah’s rule became markedly accentuated after Iran began to reap greater revenues from its petroleum exports beginning in 1973. Widespread dissatisfaction among the lower classes, the Shīʿite clergy, the bazaar merchants, and students led in 1978 to the growth of support for the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shīʿite religious leader living in exile in Paris.
The embassy seizure was done in retaliation for the US allowing the Shah to come here for medical treatment. They demanded the extradition of the shah in return for the hostages’ release.
Then the treacherous un-elected Team Reagan came into the picture:
"It is now very clear that there were two separate agreements, one the official agreement with Carter in Algeria, the other, a secret agreement with another party, which, it is now apparent, was Reagan. They made a deal with Reagan that the hostages should not be released until after Reagan became president. So, then in return, Reagan would give them arms. We have published documents which show that US arms were shipped, via Israel, in March, about 2 months after Reagan became president."
—Former Iranian President Bani-Sad
From Wiki:
Former Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamir and former Israeli spy Ari Ben-Menashe both affirmed the allegations true, while "retired Israeli General Yehoshua Saguy, who was head of Israeli military intelligence in 1980, said Prime Minister Menachem Begin claimed American approval for Israel's secret 1980 weapons shipments to Iran. But the approval had not come from President Carter, who had angrily objected to the shipments when he learned of them."
Shamir, who was Israeli foreign minister in 1980, raised the October Surprise issue in an interview in 1993, saying that he had read Gary Sick's "interesting" book. He was asked "What do you think? Was there an October Surprise?"; "'Of course, it was,' Shamir responded without hesitation. 'It was.'
Republicans have been getting away with treason for decades.
And of course the war between Iraq and Iran was encouraged by Reagan.
He helped Saddam's forces target Iranians with chemical weapons.
Glad to help on history.
Anonymous, Maybe you should tell us WHY they disapprove of Obama on immmigration. Most of them want a quicker path to citizenship and think Obama should fight harder for that. And WHY have we NOT had immigration reform? Could it be that the GOP house wount even debate it? Why do you think Cantor got dumped? HE AGREED WITH OBAMA THAT WE NEED TO HELP THEM, NOT ARREST THEM.
Can't agree with Obama and keep your job. Bad scoobies.
I really love reading this blog. The totally useless back and forth bantering that goes on between the contributors of both left and right make me laugh. Neither side can point to their own sides accomplishments, so they just attempt to point out the inadequate job that the other side ts doing. It's akin to two hospital patients, one with colon cancer and the other with lung cancer,arguing over whose cancer is better. They're both gonna kill you, but that is not what concerns either side. My cancer is better than your cancer. LOL. Absurd, but very entertaining.
Stop your whining Mozart!
Nearly two in three Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is dealing with immigration as he pushes for amnesty while illegal immigrant children are flooding across the border.
A Gallup poll found that 65% of Americans disapprove of Obama on immigration, which is up four points from a CNN poll earlier in the month that found 61% of Americans disapproved.
According to the Gallup poll, “Americans’ approval of President Barack Obama’s handling of immigration has dropped to 31%, one of the lowest readings since 2010,” and the poll found Obama’s 65% disapproval rating has climbed “10 points since August 2013,” which nearly a month after the Senate passed its comprehensive amnesty bill.
Gallup cited Obama’s threats to unilaterally ease deportations as one of the factors contributing to his low approval rating that “has dropped since last August across all political affiliations, even among” Democrats. The poll found that “Democrats’ approval has fallen eight points to the current 60%” and “approval among independents has also fallen eight points, to 25%.” Meanwhile, only 8% of Republicans approve of Obama’s handling of the immigration issue.
BLAME BUSH?
These people have lived like tribes for centuries, not like Nation States.
Churchill drew the lines. Israel becoming a Nation State started waring immediately.
We depose the democratically elected leader of Iran and instal our puppet (Shaw) who oppresses and kills the people, and then wonder why they hate America, take hostages, and become our enemy. DUH!
If Palestinians freely elect Hamas as their leadership, if Russians elect a president who holds an 85% approval rating, yet, is admonished by world organizations for his aggressive behavior, and Israel keeps building settlements; just what is it America thinks it can do in this area of the world? Do we think we can enforce our kind of government, at the point of a gun? Like others have tried for centuries in that part of the world?
We might not have won the Revolutionary War if not for the help of the French; and they were just backing an enemy of their enemy.
It's our nature to help and support people being oppressed, but our imperialistic ways must end, and will, just as England's did.
The people of America in the 20th century were non-interventionist and had to be dragged into foreign wars. We don't have to go looking for war, it finds us.
The winners get to write the rules and the future. And that causes a natural rebellion. Of course we have enemies, but we should stop working so hard to make new ones.
We can't fix the world even if we can prove our way is better.
As Chuckie crows about a poll about Obama on immigration, he would love to ignore this poll:
"Starting in 2012, most Americans have said that the government's focus should be on a plan that would allow those immigrants to become legal U.S. residents. A majority has consistently taken that position since that time - 56% in 2012, 53% in 2013, and 54% in the current poll," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
It seems MOST Americans don't agree with Chuckie, as to be expected.
Meanwhile a Republican has this to say:
Rand Paul: Proponents of Iraq war responsible for current chaos
DAVID GREGORY:
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has been quite critical of this president and he wrote an op-ed this week in which he said in part, “Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is ‘ending’ the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – as though wishing [makes] it so.” Do you think Dick Cheney is a credible critic of this president?
SEN. RAND PAUL:
I think the same questions could be asked of those who supported the Iraq War. You know, were they right in their predictions? Were there weapons of mass destruction there? That’s what the war was sold on. Was democracy easily achievable? Was the war won in 2005, when many of these people said it was won? They didn’t really, I think, understand the civil war that would break out. And what’s going on now -- I don’t blame on President Obama.
Aww, gee, even Rand Paul disagrees with Chuckie.
Anonymous, you have already been proven wrong. Just stop now.You look pathetic. BTW, Obama has deprted more in 6 years than Bush did in eight. We all know you are cherry picking the poll results so just give up. Obama is not going away and the next president will be a Dem, soo you might want to pace yourself.
Well, well, well.
Ahmed Abu Khattala Capture May Shed Light on Benghazi Attack
On the day of the attack, Islamists in Cairo had staged a demonstration outside the United States Embassy there to protest an American-made online video mocking Islam, and the protest culminated in a breach of the embassy’s walls — images that flashed through news coverage around the Arab world.
As the attack in Benghazi was unfolding a few hours later, Mr. Abu Khattala told fellow Islamist fighters and others that the assault was retaliation for the same insulting video, according to people who heard him.
So who expects an apology from Republicans and FOX(R)?
The hate will surely be ramped up now. The outrage of it all!
May Shed Light?
Unless his computer crash's and then it's hard drive is crushed by the IRS.
Gallup Poll 6/20
Americans view each of the four former living presidents more positively than negatively, while giving Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush higher favorable ratings than George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Current President Barack Obama has a net-negative favorable rating.
Blame Bush? LOL
The Orange County Grand Jury has indicted 15 people — including a major donor to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, 10 doctors and a pharmacist — for their alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar workers compensation fraud scheme. The alleged ringleader and two others also face one charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The sealed indictment accuses Obama donor Kareem Ahmed of orchestrating the elaborate operation. According to the filing:
Ahmed allegedly hired pharmacists to produce three “compounded transdermal cream.”
Ahmed then paid kickbacks to a number of physicians and chiropractors to prescribe the creams to their workers’ compensation patients.
Ahmed then allegedly conspired with the doctors to submit fraudulent workers’ compensation claims.
Ahmed paid physicians a total of more than $25 million to dispense the compound creams between June 15, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2012, according to the indictment. …
One of the 44 counts in the indictment charged Ahmed, Rudolph and Jarminski of involuntary manslaughter. It alleged that on or about Feb. 3, 2012, the three “did unlawfully and without malice kill Andrew G. (a minor) … in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner and without due caution and circumspection.” The indictment gave no other details. …
Ahmed was a top donor to Democratic efforts in 2012. He gave more than $1 million, with most of it going to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Think there will be another computer crash and hard drive crushing soon.
Blame the Koch Brothers.
And of course the war between Iraq and Iran was encouraged by Reagan.
He helped Saddam's forces target Iranians with chemical weapons.
Source please.
"is blaming Bush THE only "adult" response to be expected in response to dealing with historical facts from today's democrat and liberal?"
Answer, Yes it is.
"Source please". That is a problem right there, you do not even know the basics when it comes to our recent political history, but you have a strong unshakable opinion about politics anyway.
You have no idea how much blame the Bush/Chaney admin deserves. To do so would require reading thousands of articles which you obviously have never done.
Anonymous, you don't ever mention WHY Obama gets unfavorables.It's nit that people don't like what he's doing or wants to do, it's that he doesn't do ENOUGH of it. He's too passive.
BTW, your name isn't Gary Morinville is it?
OH and we will keep BLAMING Bush for the damage he did to the country until that mes is cleaned up. Could take decades even without GOP obstruction.
For some strange reason, Chuckie didn't latch on to the Benghazi(TM) news.
Still no apology to Susan Rice for getting it right?
Whodathunk?
Cant respond, my computer crashed and it's hard drive is in the hands of the IRS for "disposal".
"What if?"
"MAY shed light."
Missing emails?
Hmm. That sounds familiar...
The Bush White House email controversy surfaced in 2007, during the controversy involving the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. Congressional requests for administration documents while investigating the dismissals of the U.S. attorneys required the Bush administration to reveal that not all internal White House emails were available, because they were sent via a non-government domain hosted on an email server not controlled by the federal government. Conducting governmental business in this manner is a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, and the Hatch Act. Over 5 million emails may have been lost or deleted. Greg Palast claims to have come up with 500 of the Karl Rove lost emails, leading to damaging allegations. In 2009, it was announced that as many as 22 million emails may have been deleted.
"a POSSIBLE violation"
"emails MAY have been deleted"
"What if?"
"MAY shed light."
What is President Obama's foreign policy for the Middle East?
We have the Monroe Policy and the Truman Policy, do we have a Obama Policy? If so, what is it?
“I hate that man Obama more than any man I’ve ever met, more than any man who ever lived,” Bill Clinton.
“Blood Feud” by Edward Klein
Is Bill Clinton a racist?
But, what about Benghazi (TM)?
It’s far more likely Klein is the racist. We know he’s an idiot “birther”.
Hogwash like Kelin’s sells to the RRBC, as we all know too well.
“The power behind the president-it's not Michelle, but her best friend who sets the administration's policies and personnel”
Yeah, right. That sounds as likely as Dick Cheney at a peace rally.
Then there was Klein’s wacky “birther” book, “The Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?)“, which was self-published, suggests Obama was born on foreign soil and is a practicing Mulism.
Think Progress reports:
The nation’s top book reviews have all panned Klein and his work. The Boston Globe called him “an author devoid of credibility,” the New York Times described him as “smarmy and sleazy,” the Los Angeles Times called his work “bio-porn,” and the Tucson Citizen referred to it as “the literary equivalent of a backed up-septic tank.” (It got a grade of “F”).
Nevertheless, The Washington Post and Fox are reporting Klein’s latest allegations as if they were news.
Even conservative critics view Klein as disreputable. Kathleen Parker, writing for the Tribune’s network of newspapers, described Klein’s 2005 book as “prurient tabloiding,” while New York Post columnist John Podhoretz said it was “one of the most sordid volumes I’ve ever waded through.” Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal review said it was “poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work.”
A good many nuts of the RRBC believe Obama is the antichrist, too.
Nice try, Chuckie. Go back to your bubble cult.
a POSSIBLE violation"
"emails MAY have been deleted"
"What if?"
"MAY shed light."
What is President Obama's foreign policy for the Middle East?
We have the Monroe Policy and the Truman Policy, do we have a Obama Policy? If so, what is it?
Chuckie's still mad at the IRS...for what real harm? None.
Yawn.
But how can he get that tingle up his leg over Bush/Cheney wars without the IRS to collect the money to pay for them?
I bet he's got no answer to that one either. Add another "no answer" to his Chicken squawking, cry baby whining.
I'd like to opt out of the war tax, please. Oh, I can't? Then I guess the mature thing to do is pout like the mewling little brats at the RRBC.
Since he hates constitutional taxation and regulation of commerce, maybe he'd be happier in Nigeria, or Iraq. None of that pesky Constitutional stuff there.
Whatever happened to "Banghazi"(TM)?
When will they admit they're wrong and apologize to Susan Rice for being correct? Wouldn't that reflect values like honesty, humility and personal responsibility?
No wonder they cower and hide. They have NONE of those attributes.
Nothing like the truth to send the chickens back to the coop.
Run, Chuckie, run!
a POSSIBLE violation"
"emails MAY have been deleted"
"What if?"
"MAY shed light."
What is President Obama's foreign policy for the Middle East?
We have the Monroe Policy and the Truman Policy, do we have a Obama Policy? If so, what is it?
I guess everybody is taking a break from arguing about stuff that we cannot change.
Well, May has been the warmest month in the world since we have been keeping records.
Those damn Liberals are good at lying aren't they!
James,
Don't blame the poor liberal dupes.
They are victims of a conspiracy.
Those thermometers are known to have a liberal bias, and are fooling everyone.
Stephen Colbert told us, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias". You can bet science also has a well-known liberal bias.
Either that, or it's the Great Global Conspiracy of Evil Climate Scientists out to frighten us... into reducing greenhouse gases...The Horror!
No wonder everyone is so terrified, confused, and in denial.
We'd best leave policy making up to Exxon-Mobil, BP, and the GOP.
They know what's best for all of us.
James, you're changing the subject from the Middle East, Iraq and Obama to the weather? Why's that?
No reason to do so, when there are several perfectly good, "unloaded" questions to be debated and answered about the subject of Tom's Rant.
What is President Obama's foreign policy for the Middle East?
We have the Monroe Policy and the Truman Policy, do we have a Obama Policy? If so, what is it?
Hey James, lets talk about the 2.9% economic CONTRACTION our country has gone through in the 1st quarter. , Remember we were told it was due to the very cold winter?
NY Times
"The beginning of the year was not just bad for the United States economy: It was, on paper at least, the worst quarter since the last recession ended five years ago.
Economists had expected the revised number to show contraction, though they expected a less bad number than the one that materialized. One key thing they missed: Consumer spending, the mainstay of economic activity, was far weaker than either government numbers or private analysts had thought — particularly spending on health care.
Previous G.D.P. numbers, released in late May, showed that health care spending contributed 1 percentage point to economic growth. The new report now finds that health care spending actually SUBTRACTED 0.16 of a percentage point from the growth rate. The health care spending data in G.D.P. is a measure of how much President Obama’s health reform law is reshaping health care spending patterns, and it is now SHOWING OPPOSITE results from those reported two months ago, when the first-quarter data was initially released." Who would have guessed?
Obamacare is hurting our economy, but hey, we can't blame the Black Guy, we knew he had no experience when we hired him, remember?
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Dave, Oh MY Gosh, we must do something now, before the effects of drilling for oil and fracking destroy our planet! This has to be cause by something the Koch Brothers, Tea Party BIG Oil or Tea Party did. This has never happened before in all of recorded history therefore it must be caused by something man is doing now. Computer models show if this change is not stopped their wont be a GPS on our planet that will work.
Think of the impact this will have on minorities, the poor, women, and children. Rich white adult men will not be effected therefore its their fault if this happens.
CBS Tampa – We’re accustomed to thinking of the North Pole as a fixed point, but new data shows that is not the case.
High resolution images from the European Space Agency’s 3 Swarm satellites has given scientists a unique look at the magnetic field that protects Earth from cosmic rays.
Measurements taken over the past 6 months show the field is weakening, most dramatically over the Western Hemisphere.
But it’s not the case over the Indian Ocean, where the field is gaining strength.
The data also shows the planet’s magnetic north pole is shifting southwards over Siberia.
The magnetic field is generated from a variety of sources, including the Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere.
Scientists will continue to examine the data in the hopes of gaining new insight into many natural phenomenon.
re: the Selfie - how did you get Tommy Lee Jones to provide it?
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