I am, oh, so glad that I was not able to watch the Republican Presidential debate last night. Just looking at the comments on the responses tells me that viewers were getting dumber and dumber the more they listened to this gibberish, even if they didn't agree with it. Are they going to be issuing the equivalent of radiation dosimeters - only calibrated to the "stupid" - so that viewers will know they reached their annual maximum exposure?
None of what has happened in Tunisia is surprising considering past US government actions regarding kleptocrats. Just look at US government support for Batista in Cuba, Somoza in Nicaragua, Marcos in the Philippines, Mbutu in Congo, and Suharto in Indonesia. Those are just the most notable examples. Somoza is particularly illustrative because of the way he brought about his own downfall. The Somoza family was cruising along with the rest of the elites in Nicaragua until that fateful earthquake destroyed much of the capital in 1972. Somoza's cronies stole most of the international earthquake assistance, cutting out most of the rest of national elite's families from the feeding frenzy, thereby setting in motion the Sandanista revolution's success. It seems that these autocrats never learn that old Wall Street dictum -- "Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered."
What does the neocon camp do when it drives Turkey out of NATO? If Turkey were to leave NATO, it would deprive the US of more than a logistics lifeline to Iraq. We'd wind up losing an essential listening post for central Asia, which seems to get shakier by the day. Since the US insists on infuriating the Russians too, Turkey just mind find a ready partner in its long-time antagonist who ain't got no love from Europe or the US after abandoning Communism twenty years ago.
I am, oh, so glad that I was not able to watch the Republican Presidential debate last night. Just looking at the comments on the responses tells me that viewers were getting dumber and dumber the more they listened to this gibberish, even if they didn't agree with it. Are they going to be issuing the equivalent of radiation dosimeters - only calibrated to the "stupid" - so that viewers will know they reached their annual maximum exposure?
None of what has happened in Tunisia is surprising considering past US government actions regarding kleptocrats. Just look at US government support for Batista in Cuba, Somoza in Nicaragua, Marcos in the Philippines, Mbutu in Congo, and Suharto in Indonesia. Those are just the most notable examples. Somoza is particularly illustrative because of the way he brought about his own downfall. The Somoza family was cruising along with the rest of the elites in Nicaragua until that fateful earthquake destroyed much of the capital in 1972. Somoza's cronies stole most of the international earthquake assistance, cutting out most of the rest of national elite's families from the feeding frenzy, thereby setting in motion the Sandanista revolution's success. It seems that these autocrats never learn that old Wall Street dictum -- "Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered."
Considers breaking off Ties;
Israel Lobbies in Congress denounce Ankara
What does the neocon camp do when it drives Turkey out of NATO? If Turkey were to leave NATO, it would deprive the US of more than a logistics lifeline to Iraq. We'd wind up losing an essential listening post for central Asia, which seems to get shakier by the day. Since the US insists on infuriating the Russians too, Turkey just mind find a ready partner in its long-time antagonist who ain't got no love from Europe or the US after abandoning Communism twenty years ago.