STATE OF DELUSION
What is this nonsense about a secret plan to invade Iran? Our president hasn't the political capital left to buy a pack of gum.
The fact that our war machine is ineffective at controlling unwilling populations should be obvious to anyone above the order of cockroach. That all the Democrats, and half the Republicans are dead against the concept of a surging George Bush, tells you all you need to know. Except for the "Bilbo Rileys," the Long Island Martinis, the Rush Limbaughs, and the Barney Bushes of the world, the president is all alone in his delusional thinking.
There may have been a time when the US could have gone pop-pop-pop and blasted Iran's nuke facilities to smithereens. But that time is not now. Our commander in chief couldn't fight his way out of a wet wonton.
The best way to roll back Iran's technological advances is to adopt measures that keep oil prices low. Low oil prices will cause the Iranian economy to implode, the food and energy subsidies that prop up the regime to end, and the government to collapse. We've seen this before, in the Soviet Union.
Despite what the aforementioned loyalists will tell you, Ronald Reagan had no more to do with the demise of the Soviet Union than Bonzo the chimp. The Soviet Union broke down from an economy, propped up on high oil prices, collapsing when prices fell. As Thomas Friedman wrote in today's OP-ED column, this whiplash effect was the one-two punch that the Soviet economy could not withstand.
Friedman writes that, according to Vladimir Mau, president of Russia's Academy of National Economy, the precipitous rise in oil prices in the 70's lulled the Kremlin into believing it could afford to subsidize goods at home while invading Afghanistan abroad. The subsequent collapse of oil prices in the 80's found the Soviets overextended, and their economy collapsed. The lesson here, according to Mau: the more oil you have, the less policy you need. But don't base your economy on high oil prices.
Falling oil prices today would cause the already unpopular Iranian government to curtail the subsidies that are mollifying the population. So, as Thomas Friedman points out, rather than containment, or engagement, ending our oil addiction will kill the windfalls sustaining the rogue state of Iran.
If George Bush would like to take one of our Arkansas National Guard jets and strafe some Iranian nu-cu-lar facilities, I'm OK with that. He will run out of fuel somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, and we could end this national nightmare two years ahead of schedule.
What is this nonsense about a secret plan to invade Iran? Our president hasn't the political capital left to buy a pack of gum.
The fact that our war machine is ineffective at controlling unwilling populations should be obvious to anyone above the order of cockroach. That all the Democrats, and half the Republicans are dead against the concept of a surging George Bush, tells you all you need to know. Except for the "Bilbo Rileys," the Long Island Martinis, the Rush Limbaughs, and the Barney Bushes of the world, the president is all alone in his delusional thinking.
There may have been a time when the US could have gone pop-pop-pop and blasted Iran's nuke facilities to smithereens. But that time is not now. Our commander in chief couldn't fight his way out of a wet wonton.
The best way to roll back Iran's technological advances is to adopt measures that keep oil prices low. Low oil prices will cause the Iranian economy to implode, the food and energy subsidies that prop up the regime to end, and the government to collapse. We've seen this before, in the Soviet Union.
Despite what the aforementioned loyalists will tell you, Ronald Reagan had no more to do with the demise of the Soviet Union than Bonzo the chimp. The Soviet Union broke down from an economy, propped up on high oil prices, collapsing when prices fell. As Thomas Friedman wrote in today's OP-ED column, this whiplash effect was the one-two punch that the Soviet economy could not withstand.
Friedman writes that, according to Vladimir Mau, president of Russia's Academy of National Economy, the precipitous rise in oil prices in the 70's lulled the Kremlin into believing it could afford to subsidize goods at home while invading Afghanistan abroad. The subsequent collapse of oil prices in the 80's found the Soviets overextended, and their economy collapsed. The lesson here, according to Mau: the more oil you have, the less policy you need. But don't base your economy on high oil prices.
Falling oil prices today would cause the already unpopular Iranian government to curtail the subsidies that are mollifying the population. So, as Thomas Friedman points out, rather than containment, or engagement, ending our oil addiction will kill the windfalls sustaining the rogue state of Iran.
If George Bush would like to take one of our Arkansas National Guard jets and strafe some Iranian nu-cu-lar facilities, I'm OK with that. He will run out of fuel somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, and we could end this national nightmare two years ahead of schedule.
posted by R. Reynolds at 8:38 AM
13 Comments:
good one Reynolds. I know the carrier won't let Bush land there anymore after mission accomplished.
I hate it when you malign Barney Bush. It's not the dog's fault he was purchased by our Master of Nothing.
bilbo and martini are not going to like this - god forbid they should face their demons.
Why is it that I am continuously dragged into your similes? You don’t hear me saying, “Wow, so simple even GW Bush could do it”. Ok, so perhaps I have said it—once.
Must I be compared with Bilbo and Joe? Remember the Neanderthals in the Geico ads, and beware.
There are two sides to any budget - revenue and expenses. The fact that Russia's revenue fell was what made the continued military expenditures unsustainable, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Maybe Vladimir Mau doesn't credit Ronald Reagan for this, but Mikhail Gorbachev certainly does.
Bilbo:
Actually, you'd need to ask Brezhnev. Like Bush bambuzled by 9/11, Gorbachev was the Responder-in-Chief, after the fact.
Thomas Friedman and Vladimir Mau are both far too intelligent to suggest that falling oil prices alone brought down the Soviet Empire. But, as is so common with polemicists (not solecism-ists), PNN misquotes, mischaracterizes and misinforms. In today's NYT column Friedman states, correctly, that oil-price volatility was one of many factors.
Mau has written extensively on the what he calls the Soviet Revolution of 1985-1989 and how Western innovation and Soviet stagnation, combined with the widely-held opinion among Soviet citizens that they could not hope to compete, ultimately led to the fall of Soviet Communism.
If falling oil prices had been sufficient, how did the commisars survive the collapse in oil prices that occured in 1985?
There was also the belief among the Soviet "Brain Trust" that Ronald Reagan said what he meant and meant what he said.
No one ever claimed that Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union single handedly. Making that claim would be as idiotic as saying that high vodka prices brought down the regime, although vodka prices did play a part.
But as always, the only thing more pathetic than someone who gets all his opinions from the New York Times, is someone who gets all his opinions from someone who gets all his opinions from the New York Times.
Yo... Bilbo... nice job.
Waddaya doin' for Super Bowl?
Wanna meet us at Hooters?
Bonzo - I'll read up on your suggestion. Given Brezhnev's economic ineptitude, I'm not sure that I would put much stock in his insights, but I'm always open to new ideas.
J Martini - I am so there.
Hey Bilbo...
I've got a great pic of a protest outside of Hooters.
Click my name and go to Real Men Cook Mexican.
For the rest of you: Save yourselves the pain.
We do save ourselves the pain. That's why we're on this site and not yours.
ak
on top of that bush wants to do zilch about global warming because some
jobs may be lost. what a fucking moron. changing the way we treat the
environment will create jobs and save billions of lives not to mention
a little thing like OUR PLANET.
the bush must pray to the oil gods and haliburton every night.
h
Merciful heavens. Why so angry ak?
Birkenstocks too tight?
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