Principle of Honor

It should come to no surprise that the man who declared his Presidency would be defined by being a “Uniter not a Divider” and then used every opportunity that presented itself to divide America would spit on the tradition of the Office of the Presidency when traveling abroad.

While I have thought his actions were born of incompetence, I am slowly coming to the realization that Mr. Bush is an evil man.  Not because I disagree with his actions, which I do, but because his motivations are  seem to stem from a desire to promote himself at the expense of the country that he swore an Oath to his God to protect.  Mr. Bush has not only failed to do protect this country, but has actively taken steps to insure that it remain in a vulnerable state in order to deliver himself a second term, and his party political control.

Mr. Bush seems to take delight in surprising his political opponents by taking measures that one would presume would be off limits.  For a lame duck President give a speech on the foolishness of his party’s political opponents proposed tactics or direction they wish to proceed is fairly commonplace.  For a President to do so while addressing a Foreign Government, on Foreign Soil, at the celebration of an Ally’s Memorable Anniversary is contemptible.  For Mr. Bush to invoke the Nazi experience to a Nation that was founded by the survivors of the Horrors of the Holocaust, proves that Mr. Bush indeed has no morals in the pursuit of his Party’s power.

It was a speech that should have negated the message of Bin Laden, who is held as unaccountable for his crimes as it seems Bush is.  Bin Laden used the anniversary of Israels 60th year to legitimize the ideology that Israel is an occupier of Palestinian Land.  As such he and those of his ilk would continue to fight the Israeli’s and of course the Americans.

Mr. Bush who had decided that Bin Laden is not as large a threat to the United States as a weakened dictator in Iraq.  This same Mr. Bush has now deemed that a Democratic President is more dangerous to the United States rather than the enemies that we face.  Perhaps if Mr. Bush pursued Al Qaeda with the intensity that he has sought to undermine the Constitution, perhaps we would not have to worry about being seen as weak for negotiating.

Then again if memory serves me correctly, it was the Cold Warrior Ronald Reagan who tuck tail and ran when Hezbollah attacked a Marine barracks in Lebanon, and was also willing to have negotiations with our enemy the Soviet Union, as well as his Presidential predecessors.  What Mr. Bush fails to understand, concede, or fathom is that by talking you lose nothing.  Now it is true that we should not speak with Hezbollah, or have high level contact with Hamas – but speaking with recognized, if not legitimate, governments opens channels to challenge ideology.

Perhaps the example can be made that the Israeli’s are much like the Iranians themselves, as Israel has a Palestinian population seeking independence, so too does Iran have to deal with a Kurdish population seeking their own independent and sovereign government.  What would the reaction be if Western Powers were to support the Kurdish movement?

The United States has been successful in engaging its enemies.  The successes in Foreign Policy proves this point.  The United States had engaged the Soviet Union politically and via proxy, militarily.  This led to the fall of a system that sought to minimize the individual and suppress the rights of Humanity.  The United States engaged China diplomatically, then economically and was able to call this burgeoning Super Power an ally of sorts.

Mr. Bush has been a catastrophic experience for our country, and has left a tainted mark upon the seal of the President.  It is a shame that as we close in on 8 years of his term, we have yet to witness him being Presidential.  Now it may be to late, but it would be nice if he acted as though he was aware of the Principle of Honor.

Everybody’s Doing It

Now it comes as no surprise to me that the Unites States would be copied by the other nations of the world.  Things like showers, food, and democratic principles tend to make life a little better, if not more interesting.  What I don’t understand is why they are copying our policy of invading Islamic countries.

To be fair, I see why they are an enticing target.  They are very opinionated on why they should be regarded as the elite of the world, mostly because of achievements that predate 1492, and most of them have that delightful fossil fuel that makes the world go round.

They also have traditions of possessing really weak military branches.   The chief reason for this is to make sure that the military is too incompetent to take over and depose of, ie execute, whatever present leadership that is in control.

The down side of course is that they have a tendency to blow up.  Reasons for this might be from the diet, frustration over the constant lack of rain, or from strict adherence to religious practices that were intended to gain converts when the religion was first starting out, not an entrenched one.

Now because Bush was involved in a two for one deal- invade one, invade one free.  Now the alleged reasons for invasion was at least supposed to be to be strict on terrorism, and to wipe the scum off the earth.

So of course the Israeli’s, who have had to deal with the problem of Muslim terrorists for over 50 years.  They decided to try and put an end to the slime that is Hezbollah by invading and attacking their neighbor of Lebanon.  Of course the invasion was judged as a failure, by an independent review within Israel and may have only further inflamed future terrorist scum.

Now of course we have our Turkish allies fighting our Kurdish allies in Iraq.  Apparently Iraq is a good place to invade this time of year.  Now to be fair, as good as the Kurds have been by not being whiny brats like the Palestinians, still have a militant group that is wanting their own country.  Turkey has been the target of that terrorist rage, and decided not to take it any more.

Now I should hope that the Turks but a little bit more planning into their incusion ito Iraq than the Bush Administration, and really how could they not?  They are after all the group that controlled the Middle East for centuries, and boy do I miss the Ottoman Empire.

So hey everybody it is open season on Middle East countries, so if you have always had your eye on that one particular type of resource,  go ahead Everybody’s Doing It.

Czar Putin: Our World’s Greatest Hope

There were some rivalries that echo through the annals of history and that pushed the world to become a more advanced better place. These included Greece and Persia; Rome and Carthage; Great Britain and France; and the United States and the Soviet Union. I know some people are trying to make China the next Super Power we can maybe have a rivalry with, but it just doesn’t have the same feel of mutual disdain and mistrust like the good ones.

Maybe it is Human Nature to reminisce about better times, but it truly felt that we were safer when the world was on the brink of nuclear destruction. Everything just had more meaning to it in the old days, a prime example would be the Olympics. There was really truly human drama going on. Everybody watching knew if the Russian figure skater, or gymnast fell or did something to mess up the routine, she was going to get shot for “failing the state”.

Now our Olympic rivalries come in the form of individual events, instead of in terms of most medals won. To underscore this point, Australia is our biggest rival in swimming. Whoopdy frekin do, I mean I like Australia, with its exports of Outback Steakhouse, Fosters beer commercials and crazy wildlife show hosts, but I can’t get geared up to beat them in any kind of competition, they are just not on our level.

It was not only the Olympics that was more riveting, but the Middle East was a much quieter place too. I mean their choices (in their eyes) were: Deal with the Infidel Christian Western Crusaders who pay us good money for oil; or Deal with the Infidel Atheist Communist Soviets who will pay us less money for oil. But the Soviet Union couldn’t just leave well enough alone could they, although it must have been pretty bad if they felt they needed to invade Afghanistan for natural resources, since all they are known for is dirt, opium, and sand.

There is hope for those of us who dream of better times, for Russia is now led by a former KGB agent who understands the need for a new Soviet State. Czar Putin has taken the frail democracy that semi-legitimately existed and has molded what the Russian people truly want, a power on the global stage. Who needs to feed citizens or protect nuclear missile bunkers when you can challenge the United States over having a missile shield?

The Soviet Union was the perfect enemy for the United States to stand against. As an economic system the Soviets believed they would truly win in the long run, therefore they would push militarily when it was advantageous. However, they could be deterred should the advantage not be highly in their favor. In addition it cannot be discounted that the necessity of the state to undermine religious authority, may have also impacted this decision. When one believes either their is no afterlife, or the afterlife they will go to is a warm, they will do what they can to postpone such dismal outlooks.

We were the morally righteous, altogether insensitive but meaning well Americans. We may have “interfered” in a few places but only to make sure that people could be treated as people. At least our heart was in the right place.

That is all that Czar Putin is attempting to do; bring the world to a safer more stable place. The world was never more safe than when it was on the verge of Destruction, and that is why Czar Putin is our greatest hope.