What's At Stake

2008 is an historic opportunity, and this time, it is vital for both parties that the Republicans win at least the White House, if not control of at least one part of Congress. Why would this be good for both parties, you may ask? Because if Hillary loses, and the Dems lose seats in Congress, this will be a repudiation of the divisive game the Democrats have played these past seven years, and it gives Democrats an opportunity to kick George Soros, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and the Clintons to the curb. Maybe Democrats will come back with serious answers to the questions of our times, and they can act, as they should, in constructive criticism of GOP policies---something they have failed to do.

Think of the organizations on the Left causing the most trouble in American politics right now, such as Media Matters, MoveOn, and the like. If you want a good reference, check out Discover the Networks some time, and then let's play a game: Six Degrees of Hillary Clinton. You will likely not get that far out.

Now, let's compare the organization on the Left with its parallel on the Right-- for example, Media Matters on the Left and the Media Research Center on the Right. One very noticeable difference is that the org on the Right swears no allegiance to a particular conservative candidate, and acts as a resource for the entire movement. Its history can often be traced to the GOP re-org after Goldwater's defeat, and it grew organically as part of the conservative movement.

The same cannot be said for the organization on the Left. The Clintons built for themselves a network of organizations meant to parallel and counter similar organizations on the Right. This is an advantage in that the Leftist organizations can coordinate their message, and make the Clintons' favor indispensable for career advancement. However, the disadvantage is that the whole farm has been bet on winning in 2008, and the fate of these organizations is uncertain should she lose.

So, what happens if Hillary loses?

2008 is Hillary Clinton's last chance. She wouldn't have a prayer in 2012. In 2012, the youngest people to have remembered the Clinton years before people got disillusioned with them in the late '90s would be hitting their late 20's and early 30's, which some who study astrology call the Saturn Return. Whether or not you believe in astrology, you have to admit a lot of your life changes between the ages of 28 and 32. One of the bigger changes you are likely to see is a moderating of your politics as experience has often counteracted theory. Those young liberals the Clintons counted on in 2008 would be married suburbanites getting somewhere in their careers in 2012. Also, it's going to be harder to keep any screwups of the Bill Clinton Administration classified through November of 2012, when you consider that 2012 would be 20 years since Bill Clinton was first elected.

George Soros and his ilk? Well, I am one of the ones who ascribes pecuniary motives for Soros's actions. He made a killing bringing down the Pound Sterling, and I think he wishes to do the same with the US Dollar. So far, this seems to be costing him a lot more than he bargained for. A defeat in 2008 may finally get him to cash in his chips before he loses his shirt.

There's a whole house of cards stacked atop one thing: Hillary Clinton winning the Presidency in 2008. Pull her card, and the whole thing comes crashing down. In its place, a revitalized, serious, adult, patriotic progressive movement might finally have a chance, and American voters may again have a choice between two parties who may have ideological differences, but who will stand up for this country all the same.

Blood for Oil

I believe that the real reason the United States invaded Iraq is not something mentioned on a regular basis, the rationale dates before 9-11, and oil has a whole lot to do with it.

The story actually begins in the Summer of 2000. June 10, to be exact. Bill Clinton was still in office, and Mohammed Atta had been in the United States a whole week, after having secured a place for flight lessons. The GOP Convention where George W Bush was first nominated was not to be for another month and a half.

June 10, 2000 was the day Hafez Al-Assad died. Given that both Hafez Assad and Saddam Hussein were part of Ba'athist movements that had ultimately seized power in their respective nations, and had both ruled their nations for a very long time, it would not be unreasonable to watch what happened with Syria as an illustration for what would happen were Saddam Hussein to die while in office.

The succession of Bashar Assad to Syria's "presidency" was, by all accounts a very smooth transition. Thirty years of absolute rule was long enough for Hafez Assad to clear away all threats to his successor. Much was made of his past as an opthamologist who had a liberal education. Then he, to no surprise, turned out to be much like his dad.

Camp David negotiations broke of a month and 15 days later, and the Palestinians were again armed for a fight. On September 27-28, the fighting started again. Considering the number of Palestinian leaders hiding in Syria, can one imagine finding a new source of funding may have pulled Arafat from the negotiation table. Guess who was suddenly finding themselves freer to act?

Now, applying the lessons of Syria to Iraq, it could be surmised that without intervention, upon Saddam's death, one of his sons would rise to power, and very likely start doing those things Papa couldn't get away with. On top of that, Iraq was an OPEC nation, and was actively bribing various nations with oil rights using Oil-For-Food. So it looked like sanctions on Iraq would likely die with Saddam. On September 10, 2001 this was a moderate threat, and kind of an annoyance, but what could you do?

In the wake of the next day's events, and the subsequent War On Terror, the question of Iraqi succession was no longer annoying and inconvenient. We could no longer afford to lose sanctions on Iraq and wait for Uday or Qusay to fornicate upwards enough to re-merit the sanctions. Given all the bribes given out by Saddam, that would be a fatally dangerous wait.

And so, we invaded.

YAWN

After a late night's work, I have one working brain cell. And it's demanding a shift differential plus overtime. And I totally sympathize.

Any questions on Cuba?

"I'll check back with you after two years. If you've done as I ask...... I'll take out that neural block. Then you can deal with Bester....."

Lyta to Garibaldi in Babylon 5: "The Wheel of Fire"

Why do they parade an increasingly incoherent Fidel Castro in front of the cameras in Cuba? Isn't Cuba yesterday's news? Isn't the Cuban-American vote the only interest the USA has in Cuba?

If you even have to ask these questions, you would be amazed at the answers.

Read up sometime on some of the business deals the Castros have made with various state-owned businesses in places like Europe. Then remember those resources Cuba would need to move offshore to participate in these ventures, as well as its other reasons for moving money offshore (funding intelligence operations, buying frills for the elite, etc.). Look at the lack of success and the debt to these other governments Cuba has accumulated. So what do you think happens when Fidel finally dies? Can we say......probate? 

Ever since August of 2006, I would hazard a guess that many nations that possess both Cuban debt and Cuban assets have been doing their level best to keep the assets from leaving their countries, in anticipation of seizing them  as personal assets of a deceased Fidel Castro. I would also hazard a guess that George W is doing his damnedest to keep these same nations advised to the best of his ability as to what US Intelligence knows about Fidel's health. 

Speaking of what US Intelligence knows about Fidel's health, it is an open secret that some kind of deal was struck to keep the United States from harming a hair on Fidel Castro's widdle punkin head in order to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. Given the nature of dictatorships, in that dictators like to ensure their own physical survival, it is very likely that the terms of this deal expire on Fidel Castro's death. So it has been very much in our interests to know everything we can about the current state of Fidel Castro's health. I sure hope you don't think it was a coincidence that George Bush had breakfast at Versailles in Miami the morning before the announcement of Fidel's stepping down?

Given the USA's quick recognition of Fidel Castro's government in 1959, it seems we were ignorant of Castro's true agenda and employer in the KGB. For all the allegations those on the Right make about alleged KGB ties with the Vietnam-era antiwar movement, especially its most violent side, why have we seen little published proof of this? Could it be that since at least 1959 or 1960, KGB activities in the Americas went through Cuba, which is still under the same government, and still hostile to American interests, and for whom US Counterintelligence files are still classified?

Very likely. 

If so, doesn't this funding of subversive activity and making our nation chase its agents around our country kinda go beyond the stated reasons for the embargo (uncompensated expropriation of American resources--which is also true) and make the long continuation of the embargo a little more justifiable?

And as for Cuba's continuing significance, remember what happened when VENONA was declassified, and the world finally could see the guilt of many people whose innocence in the 1950s during the Rosenberg prosecution and the Army-McCarthy hearings was bandied about by the Left? Just think what being able to declassify Counterintel files on Cuban agents and their contacts, the pay stubs in Havana for supposedly "independent" thinkers, and the purchase orders for the weapons of violent activity are free for the entire world to read and document?

Given George W's problems with some of these guys, don't you think he's just dying to let the world know?

Well, I'm glad I could answer your questions today. Now on to work with me!

SPLITTERS!

From the movie, "Life of Brian:"

REG:

Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the f**king Judean People's Front.

P.F.J.:

Yeah...

JUDITH:

Splitters.

P.F.J.:

Splitters...

FRANCIS:

And the Judean Popular People's Front.

P.F.J.:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters...

LORETTA:

And the People's Front of Judea.

P.F.J.:

Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...

REG:

What?

LORETTA:

The People's Front of Judea. Splitters.

REG:

We're the People's Front of Judea!

LORETTA:

Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.

I was talking to my mother last night. My mom, and anybody who knows me would be shocked, actually supports the same candidate I do, namely Rudy. She is very worried about the threats made by much of the Religious Right to bolt the GOP if Rudy is the nominee. And Mom has always been Miss Christian, quite dismayed at her Pagan daughter.

I think she doesn't have anything to worry about, as long as everybody remembers who and what the GOP is facing in 2008, and keeps their eyes on the prize.

Religious Right types? I want you to close your eyes and visualize your perfect 2008 candidate. Now visualize the Clintons' bought-and-paid-for smear machine getting ahold of him. They will find anything they can on your guy and flog it all over the news.

And what they don't find, they will try and make up. The only reason the TANG documents were revealed to be fakes in time for the 2004 election was because the forger used a blatantly anachronistic font. If our forger had enough clue to switch to Courier (yes I know the spacing would still be wrong, but that's a much harder case to make), John Kerry would be President.

Never bet the farm on your opponent's stupidity, as reliable as it may seem. Your ideal candidate may be squeaky clean, but one deliberate misquote, one really good Photoshopping session, one really good document forgery, and he's toast.

So the GOP got a clue: If your candidate is gay-friendly, there's no point in "outing" his campaign manager. If your candidate has owned up to past or current pro-choice views, there's no point in digging up a past speech espousing those views. If he publishes his own embarassing photos, he puts the Photoshoppers out of a job.

Fortunately, it seems most folks on the right, religious or no, have gotten that clue.

Look at the folks who go all over the Dextrosphere claiming otherwise. Then check their post count and post history. And don't forget the mobys are out there. This is not saying there aren't legitimate conservatives with a beef against Rudy, just that I think some of this alleged dissent is overblown.

Okay

I think I am understanding Blogger now. Anyway, welcome to the blog.