Honestly, if you woke up tomorrow, and there were Russian tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue or Rodeo Drive, would you be surprised?
Shocked maybe. But surprised? Nah.
Sickened? Saddened? Sure.
But surprised? Probably not.
Certainly Moscow Mitch would be very happy, giddy even, and the Fox News' scum squad of Lil Tucker, Big Sean, Harpy Jeannie, and their supporting Geek Chorus would have a very good reason for why this was a great bit of diplomacy, indeed, a truly patriotic, thing. And besides, what about Obama's (fill in the blank)?
Or what if Traitor Don sold all of our Pacific territories to China for a package of magic (soy) beans? Again, shocked, but not surprised.
So, of course, Emperor Numbnuts tried to strong arm the Ukrainians to get dirt on Joe Biden's son.
If you think that's impossible, either you are a brain dead MAGAt, or you just haven't been paying attention for the last two and a half years.
Anyway, who are we to judge the actions of such a "stable genius"?
Besides, at this point, he's told so many lies and broken so many laws, what's one more?
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
"Just Saying Stuff"
This is how a columnist for a major American newspaper describes the moron masquerading as our President.
As a guy "just saying stuff."
This would be amusing...except that it isn't.
In the course of a few hours, the "stuff" Dipshit said included insulting any and all of the Jewish Americans who don't support him--which is the vast majority of Jewish Americans.
Then he insulted the Prime Minister of Denmark, a country that has supported, with troops, our, oh, let's call it an "adventure" in ISIS land. Because she wasn't "nice" to him when she declined to sell Greenland to us. All she said was that it was an "absurd" request. But Dipshit defines not nice as anything that isn't fawning obeisance, so no Dipshit visit to Denmark until they remember their manners. And maybe get a man as Prime Minister--Dipshit has trouble with any woman who isn't subservient.
Then he retweeted some other moron named Wayne Allyn Root, who had called Dipshit the "King of Israel", and the "Second Coming of God."
Then Dispshit called himself "the chosen one", because he is convinced, somewhere in that fetid pool of pus that is his brain, that he alone can negotiate with the Chinese. That laughter you hear is coming all the way from Beijing.
Then he reversed his position from just a few days earlier and folded on background checks, probably because the NRA reminded him how helpful they had been in using Russian money to support him during the last election. And using money from the Russians is near and dear to Dipshit's heart.
This is your President, a guy who just "says stuff".
As a guy "just saying stuff."
This would be amusing...except that it isn't.
In the course of a few hours, the "stuff" Dipshit said included insulting any and all of the Jewish Americans who don't support him--which is the vast majority of Jewish Americans.
Then he insulted the Prime Minister of Denmark, a country that has supported, with troops, our, oh, let's call it an "adventure" in ISIS land. Because she wasn't "nice" to him when she declined to sell Greenland to us. All she said was that it was an "absurd" request. But Dipshit defines not nice as anything that isn't fawning obeisance, so no Dipshit visit to Denmark until they remember their manners. And maybe get a man as Prime Minister--Dipshit has trouble with any woman who isn't subservient.
Then he retweeted some other moron named Wayne Allyn Root, who had called Dipshit the "King of Israel", and the "Second Coming of God."
Then Dispshit called himself "the chosen one", because he is convinced, somewhere in that fetid pool of pus that is his brain, that he alone can negotiate with the Chinese. That laughter you hear is coming all the way from Beijing.
Then he reversed his position from just a few days earlier and folded on background checks, probably because the NRA reminded him how helpful they had been in using Russian money to support him during the last election. And using money from the Russians is near and dear to Dipshit's heart.
This is your President, a guy who just "says stuff".
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Art Of The Deal...Explained By Donald J. Trump
OK. So the most important thing in any deal is that we make money. And when I say we, I mean ME. I make money.
First thing: Don't bring up morality. I don't know from morality. In fact, I don't know anything about morality. I know money. And money is completely amoral.
So, if we can get Saudi Arabia, for instance, to buy a bunch of weapons, a bigly amount, billions of dollars worth, does it really matter how many journalists they dismember? No, it does not. Because, believe me, I get a cut, no pun intended. Off the top, too. I know that some people are saying that the Saudis are using the weapons we sell them to murder the people of Yemen even as we speak. So what? I don't even know where Yemen is. Anyway, if the Yemenis can get some cash together, we'd be happy to sell them weapons, too.
And, if Israel also buys a bunch of weapons, who cares how many Palestinians they displace and/or kill? How many weapons have the Palestinians bought from us? NONE. That's how many. Again, I make sure I get a cut, one way or another.
If I could figure out a way to sell weapons to the Russians and Chinese and North Koreans and even the Iranians, I would in a New York minute! You better believe it. Their money is just as good as any other country's.
Remember, nothing lasts forever, and long term alliances are just begging to be broken. Ask my ex-wives.
First thing: Don't bring up morality. I don't know from morality. In fact, I don't know anything about morality. I know money. And money is completely amoral.
So, if we can get Saudi Arabia, for instance, to buy a bunch of weapons, a bigly amount, billions of dollars worth, does it really matter how many journalists they dismember? No, it does not. Because, believe me, I get a cut, no pun intended. Off the top, too. I know that some people are saying that the Saudis are using the weapons we sell them to murder the people of Yemen even as we speak. So what? I don't even know where Yemen is. Anyway, if the Yemenis can get some cash together, we'd be happy to sell them weapons, too.
And, if Israel also buys a bunch of weapons, who cares how many Palestinians they displace and/or kill? How many weapons have the Palestinians bought from us? NONE. That's how many. Again, I make sure I get a cut, one way or another.
If I could figure out a way to sell weapons to the Russians and Chinese and North Koreans and even the Iranians, I would in a New York minute! You better believe it. Their money is just as good as any other country's.
Remember, nothing lasts forever, and long term alliances are just begging to be broken. Ask my ex-wives.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Donald J. Trump Is Most Definitely A Nationalist
However, the nation in question is not this one.
Probably Russia.
A lot of people are saying Saudi Arabia.
Could be China, too.
Or South Africa in the 1950's.
Hey, what about Germany in the 1930's?
But it's definitely not the United States of America.
Let's call it Trumpistan. A place where the dollar is king. No, scratch that. The dollar is God. Everything has a price tag. Duty. Honor. Integrity. Patriotism. Everything. All for sale to the highest bidder. And you can lie and cheat and steal to your heart's content.
Probably Russia.
A lot of people are saying Saudi Arabia.
Could be China, too.
Or South Africa in the 1950's.
Hey, what about Germany in the 1930's?
But it's definitely not the United States of America.
Let's call it Trumpistan. A place where the dollar is king. No, scratch that. The dollar is God. Everything has a price tag. Duty. Honor. Integrity. Patriotism. Everything. All for sale to the highest bidder. And you can lie and cheat and steal to your heart's content.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Everything He Says Is A Lie`
In poker, a game at which the Mission Man is much more accomplished than I will ever be, there's a thing called a "tell".
A usually subtle "give away" that a player may not even be aware that they're doing. A frown, a twitch, a blink, a pursing of the lips....
But a skilled player can take that seemingly insignificant "tell" and figure out how strong the hand you have is.
Donald J. Trump has a "tell".
And it isn't particularly subtle.
In fact, it's really simple. No need for deep analysis.
When he opens his mouth, everything he says is a lie.
Doesn't matter what the subject is. Could be anything: immigration, foreign policy, the economy, race relations, his big bad Wall, China, North Korea, the European alliance, Russia--especially Russia.
I suppose he can't help himself. He's gotten away with it all of his adult life. Why stop now? Or perhaps he really believes all the bullshit he spews constantly. The end result is the same.
This is the consequence of a life without consequences.
A usually subtle "give away" that a player may not even be aware that they're doing. A frown, a twitch, a blink, a pursing of the lips....
But a skilled player can take that seemingly insignificant "tell" and figure out how strong the hand you have is.
Donald J. Trump has a "tell".
And it isn't particularly subtle.
In fact, it's really simple. No need for deep analysis.
When he opens his mouth, everything he says is a lie.
Doesn't matter what the subject is. Could be anything: immigration, foreign policy, the economy, race relations, his big bad Wall, China, North Korea, the European alliance, Russia--especially Russia.
I suppose he can't help himself. He's gotten away with it all of his adult life. Why stop now? Or perhaps he really believes all the bullshit he spews constantly. The end result is the same.
This is the consequence of a life without consequences.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Hypothetical
Let's say that you're an elected official from a political party that will do ANYTHING to win.
Lie, cheat, steal...whatever. You are ready, willing, and able to pander to the worst strains of American life. In fact, the worst strains comprise your base.
Let's say that a certain foreign country understands this about your party.
Let's say that this foreign country is happy to send millions and millions of dollars to your party, through means legal and otherwise, just to fuck with the United States. To weaken us at home and abroad. To weaken all of our alliances, especially the European ones.
This country is also willing to do "other" things to help...
And low and behold, all of that "help" put Donald J. Trump in the White House.
An ignorant, racist, sexist, crooked buffoon...but with that all important "R" by his name. So it's all good.
And here we are. Ceding our place in the world to the Chinese, who aren't governed by morons. Watching the European Union dissolve into factions, while the Russians wait patiently to pick up the pieces. Having America's word mean less and less on the world's stage. Becoming a punchline.
Unfortunately, when you ask a Republican controlled Congress to investigate how this happened, and what we can do to reverse it, you are in essence asking the criminals to investigate the crime.
Lie, cheat, steal...whatever. You are ready, willing, and able to pander to the worst strains of American life. In fact, the worst strains comprise your base.
Let's say that a certain foreign country understands this about your party.
Let's say that this foreign country is happy to send millions and millions of dollars to your party, through means legal and otherwise, just to fuck with the United States. To weaken us at home and abroad. To weaken all of our alliances, especially the European ones.
This country is also willing to do "other" things to help...
And low and behold, all of that "help" put Donald J. Trump in the White House.
An ignorant, racist, sexist, crooked buffoon...but with that all important "R" by his name. So it's all good.
And here we are. Ceding our place in the world to the Chinese, who aren't governed by morons. Watching the European Union dissolve into factions, while the Russians wait patiently to pick up the pieces. Having America's word mean less and less on the world's stage. Becoming a punchline.
Unfortunately, when you ask a Republican controlled Congress to investigate how this happened, and what we can do to reverse it, you are in essence asking the criminals to investigate the crime.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
An Idiot Abroad
Let's see how incoherent bombast plays in the Far East, huh?
It might help if you knew something about the region, or at least were willing to learn something--anything--about it, but, well...since you're already the self professed smartest guy in the room, with that great brain and the world's best memory, why bother? Facts are for suckers, after all.
No, better to bluster, threaten, and tweet your way around the Pacific Rim.
At least your rancid soul mate in the Philippines will welcome you with open arms.
Oh, and while you're ruining America's reputation, as our last few drops of global credibility go down the drain, make sure you get in a plug for one of your golf courses. Stay classy, DonDon!
It's true, Der Trump, the world is laughing at us...now.
Well, actually the world is laughing at you.
It might help if you knew something about the region, or at least were willing to learn something--anything--about it, but, well...since you're already the self professed smartest guy in the room, with that great brain and the world's best memory, why bother? Facts are for suckers, after all.
No, better to bluster, threaten, and tweet your way around the Pacific Rim.
At least your rancid soul mate in the Philippines will welcome you with open arms.
Oh, and while you're ruining America's reputation, as our last few drops of global credibility go down the drain, make sure you get in a plug for one of your golf courses. Stay classy, DonDon!
It's true, Der Trump, the world is laughing at us...now.
Well, actually the world is laughing at you.
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Duel Of The Titans!
In one corner you've got a delusional fool, with an unchecked ego, nuclear weapons, and comical hair.
And in the other corner you've got Kim Jong-un.
A sad little man who has ridden his father's coattails far beyond his capabilities.
Oh...I guess that could apply to both he and Der Trump. Peas in a pod, you might say.
So, now we have two, count 'em, two ego maniacal clownish morons threatening each other.
This ought to be funny, except it isn't.
The "nuclear" part is what makes it unfunny.
North Korea should be a morning's worth of work for our very, very, very expensive military. Done by noon, home in time for a late lunch. Medals for everyone!
Of course, money doesn't necessarily buy competency...for example, just look at the Trump family.
And, and it's a BIG "and", how do you think China would react to a smoldering pile of radioactive ashes right next door? What sort of damage would South Korea and Japan sustain?
Someone smart has probably mentioned this to our Fearless Leader. But Der Trump doesn't really acknowledge any intelligence but his own, such as it is, and besides, he needs a BIG distraction right about now.
Something to get the mouth breathers in his base to wet themselves with excitement! Something to Make America Great Again and stop those foreigners from laughing at us! Something to trick the media's cheerleaders into chanting USA! USA! USA! Something to make everyone forget the colossal failure that is the Trump presidency.
Maybe something that goes BOOM!
And in the other corner you've got Kim Jong-un.
A sad little man who has ridden his father's coattails far beyond his capabilities.
Oh...I guess that could apply to both he and Der Trump. Peas in a pod, you might say.
So, now we have two, count 'em, two ego maniacal clownish morons threatening each other.
This ought to be funny, except it isn't.
The "nuclear" part is what makes it unfunny.
North Korea should be a morning's worth of work for our very, very, very expensive military. Done by noon, home in time for a late lunch. Medals for everyone!
Of course, money doesn't necessarily buy competency...for example, just look at the Trump family.
And, and it's a BIG "and", how do you think China would react to a smoldering pile of radioactive ashes right next door? What sort of damage would South Korea and Japan sustain?
Someone smart has probably mentioned this to our Fearless Leader. But Der Trump doesn't really acknowledge any intelligence but his own, such as it is, and besides, he needs a BIG distraction right about now.
Something to get the mouth breathers in his base to wet themselves with excitement! Something to Make America Great Again and stop those foreigners from laughing at us! Something to trick the media's cheerleaders into chanting USA! USA! USA! Something to make everyone forget the colossal failure that is the Trump presidency.
Maybe something that goes BOOM!
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Q & A With The President Elect
What are you going to do about immigration?
Build a wall.
How are you going to pay for it?
Make Mexico.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about all the undocumented workers?
Round 'em up and ship 'em back.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about taxes?
Cut them.
How does that lower the deficit?
Make America Great Again.
What about wage stagnation and income inequality?
Make America Great Again.
What about the Middle East?
Destroy ISIS.
How?
Secret plan.
Oh?
Make America Great Again.
What about the infrastructure?
Rebuild it. We're a third world country now. Sad.
How are you going to pay for it?
Make America Great Again.
What about China?
Get tough with them.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about Russia?
Putin is my kind of guy. Strong. Not weak. Strong.
What if he invades the Ukraine and the Baltic countries?
Make America Great Again.
Build a wall.
How are you going to pay for it?
Make Mexico.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about all the undocumented workers?
Round 'em up and ship 'em back.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about taxes?
Cut them.
How does that lower the deficit?
Make America Great Again.
What about wage stagnation and income inequality?
Make America Great Again.
What about the Middle East?
Destroy ISIS.
How?
Secret plan.
Oh?
Make America Great Again.
What about the infrastructure?
Rebuild it. We're a third world country now. Sad.
How are you going to pay for it?
Make America Great Again.
What about China?
Get tough with them.
How?
Make America Great Again.
What about Russia?
Putin is my kind of guy. Strong. Not weak. Strong.
What if he invades the Ukraine and the Baltic countries?
Make America Great Again.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Business Is Business
Cuba? Hey, great if we can work it out! Plenty of beachfront and cheap labor!
Russia? Sure. They may be Red but their money is green! Besides, that Putin is mas macho!
With the Mob? You bet. Gotta keep up family traditions!
The important thing is to get paid, yo!
Dip into my own charity? Well, it is my charity! Got my name all over it! And a buck's a buck!
Why outsource to China? Cuz they'll work for less. A lot less. And that means more for me!
Import Polish construction workers? Hell yes! They're non-union, after all. And that means more for me!
It's nothing personal...
It's just business.
Russia? Sure. They may be Red but their money is green! Besides, that Putin is mas macho!
With the Mob? You bet. Gotta keep up family traditions!
The important thing is to get paid, yo!
Dip into my own charity? Well, it is my charity! Got my name all over it! And a buck's a buck!
Why outsource to China? Cuz they'll work for less. A lot less. And that means more for me!
Import Polish construction workers? Hell yes! They're non-union, after all. And that means more for me!
It's nothing personal...
It's just business.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Say Anything
You gotta hand it to Das Trumpo.
He can really read a room.
He looks out at his typical crowd of sad, broken, delusional, angry, mouth breathers.
These are trusting people who have voted for Republicans for years and never gotten a goddamn thing from the Party of Lincoln--except lies regarding how the black and brown people are stealing from them. Oh, and the occasional war to thin out the herd. All the while, the rich get richer...
And Trump tells them what they want to hear.
How it's not their fault! How they're going to be winners! The biggest, yoogest winners ever! He's gonna build them a wall! He's gonna round up those murdering, raping Mexicans! And then things will be all right again! The good jobs will come back! They'll have all the money! They'll be in charge!
ISIS? He knows how to deal with them! Climate change? All a liberal plot! China? Make a better deal! Abortion? Punish the women! No! Punish the doctors! No! Punish somebody! Yay!
Like any carny barker worth his salt, Trump knows that all you really have to say is,
"Step right up! Everybody's a winner!"
He can really read a room.
He looks out at his typical crowd of sad, broken, delusional, angry, mouth breathers.
These are trusting people who have voted for Republicans for years and never gotten a goddamn thing from the Party of Lincoln--except lies regarding how the black and brown people are stealing from them. Oh, and the occasional war to thin out the herd. All the while, the rich get richer...
And Trump tells them what they want to hear.
How it's not their fault! How they're going to be winners! The biggest, yoogest winners ever! He's gonna build them a wall! He's gonna round up those murdering, raping Mexicans! And then things will be all right again! The good jobs will come back! They'll have all the money! They'll be in charge!
ISIS? He knows how to deal with them! Climate change? All a liberal plot! China? Make a better deal! Abortion? Punish the women! No! Punish the doctors! No! Punish somebody! Yay!
Like any carny barker worth his salt, Trump knows that all you really have to say is,
"Step right up! Everybody's a winner!"
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Smart One
Ah, so the Chosen One has decided to enter the race!
Jeb '16!
How very, very, lucky we are!
Prepare yourselves for an avalanche of bullshit, delivered in the inimitable Bush style.
Bullshit about Iraq, and ISIS, and Iran, and the economy, and climate change, and deregulation, and oil, and Israel, and China, and Russia, and Obama, and Hillary, and abortion, and education, and job creation, and unions, and immigration.
Oh, and let's not forget "compassionate conservatism"!
Most everything Jebber Jabber says will be a lie, easily disproved with a few minutes effort.
Same as it ever was with the Bush family.
As you listen to this non-stop palaver, always remember one thing:
He's "the smart one."
Jeb '16!
How very, very, lucky we are!
Prepare yourselves for an avalanche of bullshit, delivered in the inimitable Bush style.
Bullshit about Iraq, and ISIS, and Iran, and the economy, and climate change, and deregulation, and oil, and Israel, and China, and Russia, and Obama, and Hillary, and abortion, and education, and job creation, and unions, and immigration.
Oh, and let's not forget "compassionate conservatism"!
Most everything Jebber Jabber says will be a lie, easily disproved with a few minutes effort.
Same as it ever was with the Bush family.
As you listen to this non-stop palaver, always remember one thing:
He's "the smart one."
Monday, April 14, 2014
I Wonder If...
I wonder if...
...the Chinese spend a lot of time debating the scientific merits of creationism?
...the next big tech breakthrough, or cure for cancer, or remedy for climate change, or new energy source, or anything of value will come from some kid who thinks the earth was created in 6 days, Noah filled a boat with mating pairs of every living creature, and Jesus rode a dinosaur?
Gee, I wonder if all the time we've spent in pointless debate with bible thumping simpletons was wasted?
...the Chinese spend a lot of time debating the scientific merits of creationism?
...the next big tech breakthrough, or cure for cancer, or remedy for climate change, or new energy source, or anything of value will come from some kid who thinks the earth was created in 6 days, Noah filled a boat with mating pairs of every living creature, and Jesus rode a dinosaur?
Gee, I wonder if all the time we've spent in pointless debate with bible thumping simpletons was wasted?
Monday, September 2, 2013
A Bit Of Harmless Fun
We all sit, with bated breath, waiting for the Great Syria Debate.
The nation's best minds, seated in our hallowed Congress and representing all reasonable points of view, will, with the highest intellectual rigor and the wisdom that is our country's birth right....
And blah blah blah.
Louie Gohmert is a member of the United States Congress. So is Trent Franks. So are Steve King, Darrell Issa, Ted Cruz, Dana Rohrabacher...oh, the list goes on and on. Inhofe, Flake, Paul, McConnell, Graham, and Sessions. Quite the brain trust, ain't it?
The Congressional debate over Syria will make monkeys throwing their feces at each other look like Masterpiece Theatre.
Some of these morons will still not admit that the President is a native born US citizen. They're just not sure...
Or perhaps they are sure, but they know they have to act like idiots to appease their idiotic base. I don't know which is worse: to be an idiot or to just act like one because you're afraid.
Our Congress is full of bought and paid for "climate change" deniers, evolution deniers, healthcare crisis deniers, gun nuts, racists, homophobes, misogynists, Ayn Rand quoting dweebs and hopheads chanting "USA USA!" as they stuff the Koch brothers' money into their pockets.
Expecting them to do anything in a sane and timely fashion is asking way too much...it would require them to put aside their personal passions and pettiness and act like statesmen. And that's not going to happen.
Anyway, the truth is that there is no good solution to what is happening in Syria. It is a civil war between a murderous despot, who is supported and supplied by Russia, China and Iran, versus a collection of armed sects. And trust me, the Russians and Chinese really don't care who Assad gasses. Because they both reserve the right to brutalize their own citizens as needed and by whatever means necessary. Besides, this gives them all a chance to screw with the good ol' USA.
Based on our lies about Iraq, why would the other member states of the UN trust us now? Even our British friends are tired of war. And if by chance Assad could be removed, who would replace him? There is no fertile ground for democracy to take root. Modern Syria is, like most of the Arab states in the Middle East, an artificial construct, left behind from the remains of the Ottoman Empire after the first World War. Cobbled together by the British and French out of tribes that have been killing each other for a thousand years, since the original schism in the Muslim world. And apparently you can now throw al-Qaeda into that mix. What kind of coalition government would that toxic brew yield? And for how long?
I have no doubt that there are many peace loving, innocent Syrians who want to live in the 21st Century and not the Middle Ages. After all, most people everywhere just want to get along with their lives, watch their children grow, and age as gracefully as possible. Unfortunately, in Syria they have no power, nor any say in what happens to themselves or their state. Personally, I would pack all I could and head for the nearest border.
I'm afraid the slaughter of the innocents will continue for the foreseeable future, until all innocence is lost.
The nation's best minds, seated in our hallowed Congress and representing all reasonable points of view, will, with the highest intellectual rigor and the wisdom that is our country's birth right....
And blah blah blah.
Louie Gohmert is a member of the United States Congress. So is Trent Franks. So are Steve King, Darrell Issa, Ted Cruz, Dana Rohrabacher...oh, the list goes on and on. Inhofe, Flake, Paul, McConnell, Graham, and Sessions. Quite the brain trust, ain't it?
The Congressional debate over Syria will make monkeys throwing their feces at each other look like Masterpiece Theatre.
Some of these morons will still not admit that the President is a native born US citizen. They're just not sure...
Or perhaps they are sure, but they know they have to act like idiots to appease their idiotic base. I don't know which is worse: to be an idiot or to just act like one because you're afraid.
Our Congress is full of bought and paid for "climate change" deniers, evolution deniers, healthcare crisis deniers, gun nuts, racists, homophobes, misogynists, Ayn Rand quoting dweebs and hopheads chanting "USA USA!" as they stuff the Koch brothers' money into their pockets.
Expecting them to do anything in a sane and timely fashion is asking way too much...it would require them to put aside their personal passions and pettiness and act like statesmen. And that's not going to happen.
Anyway, the truth is that there is no good solution to what is happening in Syria. It is a civil war between a murderous despot, who is supported and supplied by Russia, China and Iran, versus a collection of armed sects. And trust me, the Russians and Chinese really don't care who Assad gasses. Because they both reserve the right to brutalize their own citizens as needed and by whatever means necessary. Besides, this gives them all a chance to screw with the good ol' USA.
Based on our lies about Iraq, why would the other member states of the UN trust us now? Even our British friends are tired of war. And if by chance Assad could be removed, who would replace him? There is no fertile ground for democracy to take root. Modern Syria is, like most of the Arab states in the Middle East, an artificial construct, left behind from the remains of the Ottoman Empire after the first World War. Cobbled together by the British and French out of tribes that have been killing each other for a thousand years, since the original schism in the Muslim world. And apparently you can now throw al-Qaeda into that mix. What kind of coalition government would that toxic brew yield? And for how long?
I have no doubt that there are many peace loving, innocent Syrians who want to live in the 21st Century and not the Middle Ages. After all, most people everywhere just want to get along with their lives, watch their children grow, and age as gracefully as possible. Unfortunately, in Syria they have no power, nor any say in what happens to themselves or their state. Personally, I would pack all I could and head for the nearest border.
I'm afraid the slaughter of the innocents will continue for the foreseeable future, until all innocence is lost.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Chinese Lightbulbs
Everything falls apart, eventually.
That is a given.
For proof look no further than your bathroom mirror. What stares back at you now as compared to what stared back at you last week, or last year, or 10 years ago?
With time, and the proper medication, we can expect and accept that sort of decay....
However, when things fall apart long before they should, long before they once did, well, that's a horse of a different color.
As a society, we seem to be on an endless quest to find cheaper ways to do things.
Cheaper is not always better, the Wal Mart family's fortune to the contrary.
Cheaper usually involves lower wages, lax safety and environmental standards, poorer quality, compromises all along the line.
It is cheaper to pollute. It is cheaper to let infrastructure decay. It is cheaper to incarcerate.
In the short run.
It is always cheaper and easier to do nothing.
One thing we can be sure of: somewhere, someone is making a killing off of cheaper.
And that profit is used to buy a Congress full of short-sighted grifters, libertarian nihilists, religious hypocrites, corporate toadies, and just plain, run of the mill imbeciles.
And once that bought and paid for Congress convinces us that we as a nation can't afford to do the things that once made us great, well, heaven help us all.
If they are allowed to, it only takes a handful of very rich folks to impoverish a multitude of regular folks.
Everything falls apart.
That is a given.
For proof look no further than your bathroom mirror. What stares back at you now as compared to what stared back at you last week, or last year, or 10 years ago?
With time, and the proper medication, we can expect and accept that sort of decay....
However, when things fall apart long before they should, long before they once did, well, that's a horse of a different color.
As a society, we seem to be on an endless quest to find cheaper ways to do things.
Cheaper is not always better, the Wal Mart family's fortune to the contrary.
Cheaper usually involves lower wages, lax safety and environmental standards, poorer quality, compromises all along the line.
It is cheaper to pollute. It is cheaper to let infrastructure decay. It is cheaper to incarcerate.
In the short run.
It is always cheaper and easier to do nothing.
One thing we can be sure of: somewhere, someone is making a killing off of cheaper.
And that profit is used to buy a Congress full of short-sighted grifters, libertarian nihilists, religious hypocrites, corporate toadies, and just plain, run of the mill imbeciles.
And once that bought and paid for Congress convinces us that we as a nation can't afford to do the things that once made us great, well, heaven help us all.
If they are allowed to, it only takes a handful of very rich folks to impoverish a multitude of regular folks.
Everything falls apart.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Aiding And Abetting The Enemy
Since the Republican debates just won't go away--not unlike a particularly nasty venereal disease--and since the level of the debates has been, to be kind, abysmally low, I thought I'd help them out by coming up with a line of questions that should liven things up a little.
I think we can all agree that money is our one true God here in the good old USA. And the Walton family (of Wal Mart fame) has been the biggest capitalist success story of the past 40 years. (If old Sam Walton were still alive he would be worth 3 or 4 times as much as Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. As it is, his immediate heirs are all worth $20 billion or more each.)
The Walton's business strategy has been a ridiculously simple one: continue to demand that your suppliers lower their costs year after year. That means breaking unions, cutting workers, and ultimately shipping millions of jobs overseas. Until everything is made in China. Along the way, the Wal Mart economics of scale drive their competition to either do the same or go out of business.
It's the kind of unfettered free market approach that makes guys at business schools go all giddy and weak in the knees and Republicans everywhere break into spontaneous applause. Break the unions? Yeah! Drive down labor costs? Yeah!! Move all manufacturing off-shore to a place without any environmental regulations, and a billion cheap, disposable workers with no rights? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!!
So here's my first question for Newt and Rick and Michelle and Willard Mitt and Ron and other Rick (and you too Jeb, hiding in the bushes): as red blooded American patriots, how can you defend the end result of the Walton's highly successful business strategy, which has been to transfer enormous amounts of America's wealth directly to the Chinese Communists?
'Cause that's where it ends up. Oh sure, there are a handful of Chinese millionaires and I'm sure that they're enjoying the fruits of capitalism to the fullest. Private jets, and Bentley's, and shopping sprees in Paris and New York. But the wealth of these new Chinese "capitalists" is just a tiny, tiny fraction of the amount in question.
And more importantly, they can only continue to prosper with the permission and under the guidance of their government. And that government is still a Communist one. A Communist one that is starting to flex its muscles around the world--usually in direct competition to American interests. They need oil and minerals--we need oil and minerals. And these are finite things. We continue to send billions and billions of dollars to our fiercest competitor. As a nation we get weaker while the Walton's get richer.
Here's my second question for our distinguished panel of Republican worthies: if you all truly love this country as much as you profess to, what are you prepared to do about this?
I think we can all agree that money is our one true God here in the good old USA. And the Walton family (of Wal Mart fame) has been the biggest capitalist success story of the past 40 years. (If old Sam Walton were still alive he would be worth 3 or 4 times as much as Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. As it is, his immediate heirs are all worth $20 billion or more each.)
The Walton's business strategy has been a ridiculously simple one: continue to demand that your suppliers lower their costs year after year. That means breaking unions, cutting workers, and ultimately shipping millions of jobs overseas. Until everything is made in China. Along the way, the Wal Mart economics of scale drive their competition to either do the same or go out of business.
It's the kind of unfettered free market approach that makes guys at business schools go all giddy and weak in the knees and Republicans everywhere break into spontaneous applause. Break the unions? Yeah! Drive down labor costs? Yeah!! Move all manufacturing off-shore to a place without any environmental regulations, and a billion cheap, disposable workers with no rights? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!!
So here's my first question for Newt and Rick and Michelle and Willard Mitt and Ron and other Rick (and you too Jeb, hiding in the bushes): as red blooded American patriots, how can you defend the end result of the Walton's highly successful business strategy, which has been to transfer enormous amounts of America's wealth directly to the Chinese Communists?
'Cause that's where it ends up. Oh sure, there are a handful of Chinese millionaires and I'm sure that they're enjoying the fruits of capitalism to the fullest. Private jets, and Bentley's, and shopping sprees in Paris and New York. But the wealth of these new Chinese "capitalists" is just a tiny, tiny fraction of the amount in question.
And more importantly, they can only continue to prosper with the permission and under the guidance of their government. And that government is still a Communist one. A Communist one that is starting to flex its muscles around the world--usually in direct competition to American interests. They need oil and minerals--we need oil and minerals. And these are finite things. We continue to send billions and billions of dollars to our fiercest competitor. As a nation we get weaker while the Walton's get richer.
Here's my second question for our distinguished panel of Republican worthies: if you all truly love this country as much as you profess to, what are you prepared to do about this?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Endtimes
Four questions for today's Republican Party:
When you succeed in killing off the middle class, what's next?
Once the middle class is gone, who's going to buy things? Poor people struggle merely to subsist and there will never be enough rich people to support the economy. Your corporate friends are really going to miss the buying power of the 200 million or so people you're reducing to hand to mouth living. China sure isn't going to make up the difference and Europe never has and never will. But by all means keep driving down the average wage and shipping jobs overseas and see what happens.
What are you going to do with all of those angry, newly poor people? When they figure out you've been lying to them for all of these years it will get very ugly, very quickly.
Finally, how high do you think the walls around your gated communities will have to be when the time comes to keep the rest of us out?
When you succeed in killing off the middle class, what's next?
Once the middle class is gone, who's going to buy things? Poor people struggle merely to subsist and there will never be enough rich people to support the economy. Your corporate friends are really going to miss the buying power of the 200 million or so people you're reducing to hand to mouth living. China sure isn't going to make up the difference and Europe never has and never will. But by all means keep driving down the average wage and shipping jobs overseas and see what happens.
What are you going to do with all of those angry, newly poor people? When they figure out you've been lying to them for all of these years it will get very ugly, very quickly.
Finally, how high do you think the walls around your gated communities will have to be when the time comes to keep the rest of us out?
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