Isolate
Fascinating. Now it's isolationism. Don't get all isolationist! That would be bad. Stay engaged with the world, don't turn inward. It was in the State of the Union address and now it's resurfacing as a talking point for Georgie all over the place. But what exactly does he mean?
His entire presidency has been a colossal effort to isolate the US. Since WWII, the US has been anything but isolationist. We've led the world - not always in the right direction, for sure, but we've been engaged everywhere. Every important decision has had our stamp on it one way or another. We created the UN and have pushed for safety through internationalism. It's been our collective belief that we are more secure when bound to others. And as the Soviet Union fell, Clinton was wise enough to hold out a hand to the former Soviet states and satellites.
But in the past six years, neoconservative extremists have had their way with our foreign policy. Gone are the ABM treaty - or any other treaty for that matter. No longer are we a partner for peace, trade, and stability. John Bolton is our non-confirmed Ambassador to the UN - a man who dedicated his career to eliminating American treaty obligations. And then there's Iraq, where the US lied about a case for war in order to launch an invasion of choice - and then bungle the whole thing badly.
So, no treaties. Treaties limit our course of action - like invasions of choice. We hamstring the UN - no international unity, please. And Georgie keeps his posture as the 'war president' into perpetuity. So we are at war and must think always in terms of conflict. The conflict is defined so broadly that it can include just about everybody, and is so threatening that we must destroy the fabric of our civilization - our civil liberties - to fight it. Which begs the question of what exactly we're trying to protect.
It's not the Constitution. Little George has made it clear that he considers the old document just a loose guideline. And it's not those civil liberties - they were the first thing to go into the fire after 9-11. The illegal NSA spying policy was authorized just days after the attacks.
No, what the Junta is fighting to keep is their control over the 'homeland' (a word that's always made me a bit uncomfortable). Not our beliefs and not our philosophy and not anything to do with our legitimate democracy. We fight to keep "them" from hurting our people and property.
And maybe that's the whole nut of the Junta. Obviously, Job One to them is gathering power and wealth. But where does that come from?
When I think of America, I think of the great democracy, the mighty historical victories over fascism and communism, and the egalitarian ideals of liberty and freedom.
When they think of America, they see a vast economic engine, a spot of ground, and a mass of unruly people. Their challenge is to harness that engine to their own advantage, rule the people in any way they can (lies, racism - whatever works), and keep the bad guys away from the ground. To do that, the great oceans used to be effective but not so much anymore.
What we've got now, in lieu of vast walls and deep oceans, is a foreign policy that says, in no uncertain terms: FUCK YOU!
Foreign countries are either our valets (Great Britain), our enemies (Iran, North Korea), or suspiciously uncooperative oddities who, let's face it, are probably harbouring al Qaeda fugitives (everybody else). If you're not going to carry water for us, you're in the way and need to be marginalized.
So now we must avoid isolationism? Where could that possibly have come from? The Junta has built their walls. They've spent $10 billion of our hard-earned dollars on an inoperable missile defense shield against a threat from nobody. We don't participate in Kyoto or a thousand other treaties we used to enforce, and we're sure as hell not signing any new ones.
As a backdrop to the most toxic foreign policy in our history, Georgie wants us to not be isolationist. But what does he want? Engagement?
Hardly.
My guess is that this is just another of his Swift Boat responses. While those traitors were smearing John Kerry's good name and record on Georgie's dime, he disavowed them all over the place. "I honor Sen. Kerry's service."
So now Bolton's strangling cats in his UN office and preventing the UN from doing anything at all, and Congress has shut down the Dubai ports sell-off. We're all "safer" at the same time that we've never been in more danger. And Georgie wants to be sure he doesn't get all the blame for making us twitchy and paranoid.
Nice try.
His entire presidency has been a colossal effort to isolate the US. Since WWII, the US has been anything but isolationist. We've led the world - not always in the right direction, for sure, but we've been engaged everywhere. Every important decision has had our stamp on it one way or another. We created the UN and have pushed for safety through internationalism. It's been our collective belief that we are more secure when bound to others. And as the Soviet Union fell, Clinton was wise enough to hold out a hand to the former Soviet states and satellites.
But in the past six years, neoconservative extremists have had their way with our foreign policy. Gone are the ABM treaty - or any other treaty for that matter. No longer are we a partner for peace, trade, and stability. John Bolton is our non-confirmed Ambassador to the UN - a man who dedicated his career to eliminating American treaty obligations. And then there's Iraq, where the US lied about a case for war in order to launch an invasion of choice - and then bungle the whole thing badly.
So, no treaties. Treaties limit our course of action - like invasions of choice. We hamstring the UN - no international unity, please. And Georgie keeps his posture as the 'war president' into perpetuity. So we are at war and must think always in terms of conflict. The conflict is defined so broadly that it can include just about everybody, and is so threatening that we must destroy the fabric of our civilization - our civil liberties - to fight it. Which begs the question of what exactly we're trying to protect.
It's not the Constitution. Little George has made it clear that he considers the old document just a loose guideline. And it's not those civil liberties - they were the first thing to go into the fire after 9-11. The illegal NSA spying policy was authorized just days after the attacks.
No, what the Junta is fighting to keep is their control over the 'homeland' (a word that's always made me a bit uncomfortable). Not our beliefs and not our philosophy and not anything to do with our legitimate democracy. We fight to keep "them" from hurting our people and property.
And maybe that's the whole nut of the Junta. Obviously, Job One to them is gathering power and wealth. But where does that come from?
When I think of America, I think of the great democracy, the mighty historical victories over fascism and communism, and the egalitarian ideals of liberty and freedom.
When they think of America, they see a vast economic engine, a spot of ground, and a mass of unruly people. Their challenge is to harness that engine to their own advantage, rule the people in any way they can (lies, racism - whatever works), and keep the bad guys away from the ground. To do that, the great oceans used to be effective but not so much anymore.
What we've got now, in lieu of vast walls and deep oceans, is a foreign policy that says, in no uncertain terms: FUCK YOU!
Foreign countries are either our valets (Great Britain), our enemies (Iran, North Korea), or suspiciously uncooperative oddities who, let's face it, are probably harbouring al Qaeda fugitives (everybody else). If you're not going to carry water for us, you're in the way and need to be marginalized.
So now we must avoid isolationism? Where could that possibly have come from? The Junta has built their walls. They've spent $10 billion of our hard-earned dollars on an inoperable missile defense shield against a threat from nobody. We don't participate in Kyoto or a thousand other treaties we used to enforce, and we're sure as hell not signing any new ones.
As a backdrop to the most toxic foreign policy in our history, Georgie wants us to not be isolationist. But what does he want? Engagement?
Hardly.
My guess is that this is just another of his Swift Boat responses. While those traitors were smearing John Kerry's good name and record on Georgie's dime, he disavowed them all over the place. "I honor Sen. Kerry's service."
So now Bolton's strangling cats in his UN office and preventing the UN from doing anything at all, and Congress has shut down the Dubai ports sell-off. We're all "safer" at the same time that we've never been in more danger. And Georgie wants to be sure he doesn't get all the blame for making us twitchy and paranoid.
Nice try.
posted by fiduciary at 9:23 AM
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